Reborn to dote on his wife.
Lu Che, courtesy name Wangxuan, was a legendary figure of the Great Yong Dynasty.
He was the last surviving member of a fallen marquis’s household, a close friend of the Third Prince, and the prince’s sharpest blade. In just two short years, he rose to become Minister of Justice.
Alas, the struggle for the throne was treacherous.
When he fell from power, his entire family was exiled to the northern frontier.
At twenty-three, he had no wife or children, only a servant girl bought by the old madam to share his bed.
His younger sister was frail, his mother was elderly, and he himself was half-disabled after suffering severe punishment.
The long journey into exile was bearable only because of that little girl.
He watched her become calculating and ingratiating, debase herself, haggle over every little thing, and lose the light in her eyes.
After the welcoming banquet, she had already died unnoticed in the coldest, loneliest corner of the marquis’s residence.
She was thin and pale, curled into a ball, wearing the coarse clothes she had worn when she was bought. In her hand was a faded purse.
Lu Che petitioned for an imperial decree granting their marriage.
Lu Che married her in a state of madness.
Later, Lu Che rose to become Grand Secretary, wielding power over the entire court.
Years later, Lu Che died, alone to the end.
Clutching a portrait of Xuanya, Lu Che died in the very corner where she had died. A peach tree grew there.
A fragrant breeze swept in, and Lu Che awoke from his dream, back at the moment his name appeared on the imperial examination honors list.
Was it Zhuang Zhou dreaming he was a butterfly, or a butterfly dreaming it was Zhuang Zhou?
He forced his way into her world, little by little filling it completely.
Later, he cherished her and loved her.
After ten years of unwavering devotion, Xuanya finally became cheerful and lively at twenty-five, gentle and refined as jade.
At night, Xuanya tried to push away the clingy Lu Che, but he would not let go for even a moment.
In his past and present lives, Lu Che had waited too long, far too long. He was afraid. He had gone mad.
But Xuanya was simply Xuanya.
The person she wanted to save the most was watching her suffer for two lifetimes. The person he most wanted to take care of was entangled with him for two lifetimes and could not be freed. If you do it again, your heart will turn into ashes, your tears will turn into rivers, and you will end up noisy. Life is about looking away again and again, reconciling with oneself again and again, and letting go of the past and moving toward the future.
It's beautifully written, but not much.