An Unlikely Match

Manman BuguQidian2021

No rating yet
Word count
2.8M words

Tags

Girls' Fiction Contemporary Romance Historical ReappraisalOrphan GrowthTaking ControlTime TravelComing of AgeAcademic StudyWeb NovelZhuangzi

Summary

Branded with a horoscope that "curses her kin," Qiao Ran has been left in the Fang family's country estate for ten years. When the Fangs fall on hard times and she is no longer of use, they send her to the Xuanzhen Temple. Unbeknownst to them, the original Qiao Ran was long ago strangled by the estate servants and strung up to make it look like suicide. The transmigrated Qiao Ran wakes to this scene and betrays nothing. Using the strangulation marks around her neck as evidence and armed with proof of the Second Madam Fang's falsified accounts, she demands the return of her maid Hongdou's indenture and two thousand taels of silver—and walks away free. She and Hongdou then take up residence in a small courtyard beside the Xuanzhen Temple, coming and going through Jinling, where she is drawn into a series of cases: the stabbing of a regional inspector, a baffling murder, and more. Piece by piece, through physical evidence and an understanding of human nature, she unravels the schemes behind the slander of her "curse," growing from an abandoned orphan into the central figure who commands her own fate.

Editor's review

This is a historical novel with a strong female lead, heavy on logic and light on cheat-like powers. The appeal lies in the heroine solving problems through evidence and deduction; the opening reversal with the strangulation marks is swift and decisive, and the household intrigue and detective plotlines advance side by side. The drawbacks are that the male lead appears little and the romance is faint, and the early pacing is a bit slow due to dialogue-heavy setup. It suits readers who like calm heroines and deductive narratives; those seeking sweet romance or fast-paced face-slapping may be disappointed.

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Reading tips

  1. Read the first chapter, where Qiao Ran turns the tables on the Fang family's second madam, to see if you like this calm, calculating narrative style.
  2. Read case by case, paying attention to how physical evidence corresponds to testimony, to follow the chain of deduction more easily.
  3. Don't rush to expect the male lead Zhang Jie's appearance; treat his thread as a hidden one, and it will be clearer when you look back later.

About the publisher

Qidian

Qidian is a platform whose catalogue brings together online literature, with about 45,000 titles in the library spanning categories such as male-oriented fiction, Eastern fantasy, xianxia and wuxia, science fiction, selected fiction and quality web novels. Representative titles include Reincarnation Paradise, War Soldier Leon, The Fairy Is Fierce (also known as Tai Mang), The Expert Is Right Beside Me, Dragon Herder, You Should Cross the Mountains Like a Hero, The Adventures of a Clever Girl and Summoning Heroes of All Ages in Another World, with themes extending from fantasy and xianxia to science fiction and adventure. Representative authors available in the library include Na Yi Zhi Wen Zi, Chi Gua Zi Qun Zhong, Guan Guan Gong Zi, Chenxing LL, Luan, Chen Mo De Ai, Piao Yi Dao Zhang and Dong Tian Bu Leng. Their works mostly appear as serialized web fiction aimed at readers who prefer long genre fiction. Public information on its founding background and scale is limited, so no inferences are made here; the description is based solely on the library's titles and categories.

FAQ

Is this a transmigration story or a native one? The heroine is a transmigrator who enters the body of the original owner, nearly strangled by servants, and unfolds the story using her memories and circumstances.
Is there much romance between the male and female leads? The male lead appears relatively little, and the romance takes up limited space; the main line is the cases and the heroine's growth.
Is the novel completed? It is completed, with 873 chapters and about 2.79 million characters, finished in August 2021.

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About the author

Manman Bugu Author

Manman Bugu is an author active on Chinese online literature platforms. Public information about her is limited, and details such as nationality and dates of birth and death are not confirmed. Seven of her works are included in the collection, among them Tian Zuo Bu He, Duzhan Jinzhi, Tianshi Shangwei Ji, Shengshi Diyi Jiao, Dalisi Xiao Fantang, Zanying Lu, and Nüpei Xiuxian Ji, spanning modern romance, ancient romance, and xianxia and wuxia fiction. Her writing mainly targets female readers and is commonly grouped under categories such as women's fiction, modern romance, ancient romance, and premium fiction. Judging from the titles and categories, she is skilled at developing character relationships and plot twists within ancient romance settings, with themes involving aristocratic families, the imperial court, and cultivation, and a style that leans toward accessible, genre-driven storytelling.