The Ugly Empress (丑娘娘, Chǒu Niáng Niang) is a danmei Web Novel by Yun Guo Shi Fei.
Teng Yun, a general, is defeated and executed by Xue Junliang. Then Teng Yun wakes up in the body of Xue Junliang's wife, the titular ugly empress, who's ignored by her husband and mistreated by everyone else. Teng Yun decides to get revenge by causing chaos in the palace. But his plan goes wrong when Xue Junliang notices the empress's odd behaviour and becomes interested in "her".
The novel is completed with 80 chapters and 4 extras. An English translation is in progress here
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Contains examples of:
- Altar Diplomacy: The reason Empress Feng married Xue Junliang. She's a princess of Feng Country and he's the emperor of Xue Country.
- Awesomeness by Analysis: Shen Yi guesses Teng Yun's identity simply by observing his behaviour for a while.
- Beta Couple: The book has two of them — Teng Shang and Xue Houyang, who have a much healthier relationship than the main couple, and Feng Ming and Zhao Lu, whose relationship isn't anywhere close to being healthy.
- Big Dam Plot: Xue Junliang arranges the destruction of the dam on Ming River, causing a flood that almost drowns Feng Ming.
- Body Surf: Teng Yun does this accidentally. After his first death he wakes up in the Empress's body. After his second death he wakes up in Teng Ying's body.
- Can't Hold His Liquor: Lu Shichen tries to cheer Feng Ming up by drinking with him. He very quickly gets drunk too and ends up crying along with Feng Ming.
- Decapitation Presentation: Xue Yu decapitates Zou Zhenying and puts his head on a bamboo pole.
- Drowning My Sorrows: Feng Ming gets drunk when someone mentions Zhao Lu.
- Love Martyr: Feng Ming for Zhao Lu. Zhao Lu abuses Feng Ming and forces him to sleep with him in public, and Feng Ming doesn't want to hurt Zhao Lu by refusing so he goes along with everything.
- No Party Like a Donner Party: When a disease broke out Marquis Tengnan had people from the affected areas locked out of the city. Their food runs out and they're forced to resort to cannibalism to survive.
- Parental Incest: The King of Teng had an affair with his daughter.
- Playing Sick: Zhao Lu pretends to be sick so he can sneak away to follow Feng Ming.
- Primal Scene: Xue Pei sees his father Xue Junliang having sex with Teng Yun. Especially icky because the sex is at best dub-con and at worst outright rape.
- Princeling Rivalry:
- Teng Yun's younger brother tried to kill him.
- Xue Junliang killed most of his younger brothers because they tried to overthrow him.
- Questionable Consent: Xue Junliang tries to have sex with Teng Yun. This has the dubious honour of being questionable consent for both of them: Teng Yun is in Teng Ying's body so Junliang doesn't know who he's really sleeping with, Junliang is drunk and possibly mistakes Teng-Yun-as-Teng-Ying for Teng-Yun-as-the-Empress, and Junliang basically forces himself on Teng Yun without ever asking consent.
- Reincarnated as the Opposite Sex: Teng Yun, a man, is executed and wakes up in the body of Empress Feng, a woman.
- Royally Screwed Up: All of the royal families have a lot of issues, to say the least.
- Xue Junliang doesn't understand the meaning of the word "no" and refuses to see Teng Yun isn't interested in him.
- The King of Teng had an affair with his daughter.
- Feng Ming lets Zhao Lu abuse him and publicly humiliate him.
- Sibling Murder: Cheng Tian is murdered by his younger brother.
- Spit Take: Lu Shichen spits out his food upon hearing he's in Xue Country.
- A Taste of the Lash: Teng Ying is whipped for murdering the empress. Unknown to everyone, Teng Yun's soul ended up in Teng Ying's body, so he's the one who's whipped.
- Wham Line: The end of chapter forty-five: "Her Majesty the Empress... has passed away."
- Wicked Stepmother: Madam Wang, the King of Teng's concubine, arranges to have Teng Xin, her husband's oldest son, deposed so her own son can become Crown Prince instead.
- Xanatos Speed Chess: Teng Yun plays it against Cheng Tian. He predicts which village Cheng Tian will attack, so he tells Xue Junliang to evacuate the village. Then he sends soldiers to destroy Cheng Tian's camp while Cheng Tian and his army are trapped in the village.
