Pursuit of Jade (逐玉) is adapted from the web novel 侯夫人与杀猪刀, which translates to The Marquis's Wife and the Butcher's Knife. The novel was serialized on Jinjiang Literature City (晋江文学城), one of China's largest platforms for original online fiction, where it garnered an enthusiastic readership and consistently ranked among the site's most popular historical romance titles. The author, who writes under the pen name 叶蔓声 (Ye Mansheng), is known for creating strong, unconventional female protagonists.
The novel's premise is immediately attention-grabbing: Yu Qianqian, a modern woman, transmigrates into the body of Fan Changyu — a butcher's daughter who has just been married off to Xie Zheng, the Marquis of Ningyang, through an imperial decree. The catch? Xie Zheng is gravely ill, rumored to be on the verge of death, and the marriage is widely seen as a cynical political maneuver to humiliate his family. Everyone expects the new bride to become a widow within weeks. Instead, Yu Qianqian rolls up her sleeves, applies her modern knowledge, and sets about saving both her husband and his household from ruin.
What sets the novel apart from other transmigration stories is its unusually detailed treatment of daily life in a noble household. Ye Mansheng clearly researched historical domestic management, and the novel devotes considerable attention to the logistics of running a marquis's estate — managing servants, balancing accounts, negotiating with merchants, and navigating the complex social hierarchy among noble wives. Yu Qianqian's modern business acumen provides fresh solutions to ancient problems, creating a satisfying blend of historical atmosphere and contemporary sensibility.
The drama adaptation preserves the core relationship dynamic and major plot points but makes several notable changes. The transmigration element is significantly toned down — the drama leaves it ambiguous whether Yu Qianqian is truly from the modern era or simply an unusually clever and forward-thinking woman. The political intrigue surrounding the Jinzhou case is considerably expanded, giving the drama a more suspenseful, thriller-like quality that the novel, which focused more exclusively on romance and domestic life, did not emphasize as heavily. Several supporting characters, including the antagonist Qi Min, received substantially more development in the drama.
Readers who discovered the novel after watching the drama often note that the two versions complement each other beautifully. The novel provides deeper insight into Yu Qianqian's inner thoughts and motivations, while the drama excels at bringing the political landscape and visual splendor of the Dayin Dynasty to life. For those interested in reading the original, the novel is available on Jinjiang Literature City in Chinese, and several fan translation projects exist online, though none are officially licensed as of early 2026.