The Substitute Crown Prince

Married man x villainess / both reborn / angsty melodrama / love polygon / a sea of hatred and passion

Shen Qingying was reborn after her death. In her previous life, she died for love. When she opened her eyes again, it was winter in the first year of the Xiyi era, in Yanzhou.

Born with a mole between her brows, she was foretold to be a beauty who would bring disaster. So, when the Son of Heaven of Great Zhou, Murong Huai, ascended the throne and her twin sister, Qingqing, was chosen as empress, she received a letter from her father, Chancellor Shen, ordering her to take her sister's place.

Shen Qingying, reborn, burned the letter to ashes. This time, she would not help evil flourish. She had come for one person alone.

She knew that years later, the prophecy would come true. She would conspire with Prince Xun, leading an army of a hundred thousand to surround the capital. The Son of Heaven, Murong Huai, would be as weak as tattered cotton, the nation exhausted and unable to resist, and he would leap from the city wall to die for his country.

After Murong Huai died, she could never understand why she could not forget that day.

The heavy snow that had been building all winter fell in a torrent, its flakes like goose feathers blotting out the sky. Murong Huai stood atop the city wall in white mourning robes, as if all the world's snow had settled on his shoulders.

Her heart pounded as she watched.

But not because she was afraid.

A sudden, powerful intuition simply swept over her. This would be her last glimpse of Murong Huai. Then he jumped, and a moment later, she realized she loved him.

*

When Murong Huai was ten, his birth mother, Consort Yu, passed away. Overcome with grief, he cried himself blind and spent his days covering his eyes with white cloth, growing ever more solitary and gloomy.

At that time, his father bestowed a companion upon him. He heard her name was Shen Qingying, a year younger than him and the eldest legitimate daughter of Chancellor Shen.

His companion, Shen, had a round red mole between her brows. She was beautiful, bright, and clever, and her voice sounded like the falling snow.

After he got Shen as his companion, he never cried again.

Year after year, as their bond grew quietly deeper, his eyesight also began to return.

But what he gained in return was the sight of more and more evidence of her ambition and betrayal. Born into the imperial family, he knew her true purpose, but he did not want to expose her, thinking that this way he might still keep her by his side.

Then Crown Prince Murong Li staged a coup, and his father flew into a rage. She was caught up in the affair and left the capital. Two years later, when he ascended the throne, she returned to his side of her own accord, under another identity.

He was overjoyed.

Murong Huai kept deceiving himself like this until the enemy was at the gates and he was besieged on all sides.

She chased after him up the city wall in a red dress, her face full of guilt and shock.

He should have known. She had never come for him.

Emperor Shang of Zhou had a secret he had never spoken aloud in his life, a hidden trace left behind after the winter snow melted into spring.

Reader's Guide:

1. One-to-one romance and mutual fidelity in this life. The other consorts from their previous life are just ornaments in the imperial harem. Both leads are reborn; the angst is in their previous life, while things are very sweet after they are reborn.

2. The second male lead loves the heroine unrequitedly and chases her, but never wins her back.

---Bonus Scene (1)---

Consort Zhao discovered a secret.

Empress Shen was actually Prince Xunyang's lover and spy.

Full of excitement, she went to the emperor with evidence, hoping to expose Shen's true nature to his face and, ideally, take her place.

"Your Majesty! I wish to accuse the empress. She has thrown the imperial harem into chaos and intends to rebel!"

The usually coldhearted emperor opened his lips to stop her. "Enough. I don't want to hear it."

---Bonus Scene (2)---

On the day of his wedding to Shen Qingqing, Murong Huai had already noticed something was amiss.

After she was exposed, Shen Qingying said, "Qingqing ran away from the wedding, and the Shen family had no choice but to send me in her place. Once Qingqing returns, we'll switch back."

Later, Qingqing returned, and the day came when they were supposed to switch back.

She suggested it, but Murong Huai chose to keep her in his arms all night, scoffing, "Switch? How can we switch now?"

"If you're A Ying, why would we switch?"

Theme: If there's a flower worth picking, pick it now. Don't wait until all the flowers have fallen.