English title: Marrying The Villain
This is a historical novel where the FL dies from some unknown poison and is reborn. Upon her rebirth, she's determined to get to the bottom of her poisoning, which she initially attributes to her husband and ML, Ning Yin. Ning Yin is known as a madman who can cruelly punish anyone anytime if he's not in a good mood, and unfortunately in her previous life, he was also the regent and wielded great power.
After her rebirth, the FL starts out with the intention of getting revenge on the ML, who is still young and in quite dire circumstances serving as an arena slave when they meet. However, as they interact, she decides to give him a second chance and eventually realizes that things aren't as simple as they seem and that there's someone else to blame for her death in her past life.
Overall I enjoyed this novel and seeing how the FL's feelings towards the ML slowly changed as they interact more and she learns more about his tragic past as a forgotten and unfavored prince. On the ML's side, initially he uses her to hide in her household as a common servant and keep a low profile, but as she proves on multiple occasions that she won't abandon him like everyone else, she slowly becomes an existence that he can't do without.
I enjoyed the romance and the story was interesting enough, but there were definitely some plot points that were questionable and overly convenient. For example, for a young girl in the boudoir, it was weird that the FL was allowed to visit unsavory places in the slums, like the slave arena where the ML was fighting when they first met, even if it's with an escort. And she went on multiple occasions too, not just one. Obviously without this kind of freedom, it would have been harder for the FL and ML to meet and interact initially, but it just felt weird given how restricted women used to be and how it's portrayed here vs in other novels.
This is clear in her sister's role as a military general, which was also surprising. To be honest, I'm not sure exactly what her sister's role was, as it seemed like it was the father and the brother who actually left the capital to do things on the emperor's command. It felt like the author purposefully left the sister's role vague, so that there was another female of house who could be involved in underhanded schemes but also still someone left who could easily leave the house and resolve the issues facing the household when the brother and father were otherwise occupied. I dunno, it was weird.