Sink or Coffin

Jiang Chenyu, daughter of the Imperial Tutor, gave everything to her husband Xu Huanshan. She spent her dowry to save his family, served his mother, and raised his adopted son Xu Yanzhou into a promising young man. But when her hair turned gray from years of toil, her adopted son strangled her from behind. In her dying moment, the truth emerged: Xu Huanshan had never died in battle. He faked his death and defected to the rival Liang Kingdom. Xu Yanzhou was his illegitimate son with a Liang female general, Meng Lang. By heaven’s grace, Jiang Chenyu was reborn on the very day of his supposed death. At the mourning hall, she saw through his trick. Pretending to collapse with grief, she crashed into the coffin and summoned the palace eunuch to nail it shut—trapping the still-breathing Xu Huanshan inside. Her mother-in-law Su Yongzhen tried to stop her, but failed. That rainy night, Chenyu knelt at the palace gates and begged the emperor to honor her ""late"" husband with a marquis title. The emperor came in person for the ceremony and ordered the coffin opened. It was empty. Forced out of hiding, Xu Huanshan was convicted of faking his death and exiled to Ningguta. Later, Xu Huanshan and Meng Lang begged Chenyu to help their son become the Crown Prince’s companion. She played along and led them back to the Jiang manor—unaware to them that the Empress and Crown Prince were staying incognito. Meng Lang ordered the boy to push the Crown Prince into a lake. Chenyu dove in to save him while the couple blocked her way. The Empress revealed her identity. Everything came to light. Xu Huanshan blamed Meng Lang to save himself. The bastard’s origin was exposed. Pretending to raise money for her husband’s pardon, Chenyu forced her mother-in-law to sell everything—700,000 taels of silver, all drained into the Jiang family. The Xu family was gutted. Then she deliberately humiliated Meng Lang, provoking her to contact Liang spies and convince Xu Huanshan to steal military defense maps. The emperor and Chenyu ambushed the treasonous deal. Caught red-handed, Xu Huanshan and Meng Lang were beheaded. Su Yongzhen died of shock on the spot. The Xu family was destroyed. Chenyu left a divorce letter behind and walked away—free at last.