After Sharing a Husband with My Upright Brother-in-Law

Originally titled After Borrowing My Brother-in-Law's Heir

Shen Qiao was born into humble circumstances. By a twist of fate, she became betrothed as an infant to the second son of the Pingyuan Marquis's household. She had worried that the young master might look down on her, but unexpectedly, the two of them fell in love and became the talk of a beautiful romance.

But fate had other plans. Three months before their wedding, he drowned in a raging flood while protecting the third son of the main branch. Not even his body was recovered.

Shen Qiao married into the marquis's household as planned.

Two years later, everyone had accepted that he would never return. Only Shen Qiao still kept to her empty bedchamber.

The Second Concubine, calling in a favor, asked the Marchioness to have her eldest son, Pei Zheng'an, carry on the family line for both branches, so her son would have an heir.

Shen Qiao resisted. She only wanted to remain faithful to her late husband. She didn't want to be with her brother-in-law... But if it meant giving her late husband an heir, she was willing...

Pei Zheng'an, eldest son of the Pingyuan Marquis, was upright and proper, sternly observant of propriety, with the refined bearing of the moon in the sky and a pine tree in the forest.

Though the Marchioness owed the Second Concubine a favor, she didn't want her own son dragged into such a sordid affair. But when Pei Zheng'an learned what was being asked of him, he agreed within three days.

Shen Qiao had spent two years in the household, devoted to thoughts of his late younger brother. She observed every rule and was a respectable woman. She would never pester him. In the end, they owed the Second Branch this much. As the eldest son, this was what he ought to do.

What he never expected was that he would be the one to become entangled.

On one secret night after another, as he looked at her delicate form beneath him, he couldn't help the desire surging through his heart and body. He wanted to make her his, and couldn't stop wondering who she was thinking of at that moment.

He was nothing like his late younger brother. They were worlds apart. If she had loved his brother, how could she ever like a man like him?

But his feelings grew wild, and one night, as they shared a bed, he used the wine as an excuse to hold her fast in his arms. Watching her with eyes tightly shut, lost in passion, he coaxed her with a question: "Who am I?"

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1. Both leads have only ever been with each other. The male lead has never been married.

2. The female lead is devoted to remaining a widow, and at first the male lead acts out of a sense of duty.

Coming soon: My Nephew's Fiancée. Please add it to your collection~

Meng Zhenzhen is Lu Heng's nephew's fiancée.

Her father died two years ago, and Zhenzhen observed the mourning period, postponing the wedding.

Now the mourning period is over. She has only to wait six months to marry her fiancé and settle into a peaceful life.

But on the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, a love curse brings her and Lu Heng together for one night.

Terrified, she hides for days, but Lu Heng eventually finds her.

Lu Heng, head of the Lu family, rose to high office at a young age. Handsome and cold, with a deeply calculating mind, his eyes are like deep pools, making it impossible to tell what he is thinking.

From behind a folding screen, he gives Meng Zhenzhen two choices.

One: Break the curse. Until then, they must both strictly observe propriety and not cross the line unless absolutely necessary. Once the curse is broken, they will be strangers. He will give her fifty taels of gold.

Two: One of them dies.

At the second option, Meng Zhenzhen, who was usually afraid even to see him, went weak at the knees and dropped to the floor. She knew Lu Heng wouldn't be the one to die.

After thinking it over for three days, Zhenzhen chose the first option. She wanted to live, to live well, together with her mother.

Breaking the curse did not go smoothly, and both of them endured torment.

Still, Lu Heng kept his word and observed propriety. The first time the curse took hold, he endured until his head throbbed and blood dripped from his nose before finally reaching through her clothes to take Zhenzhen's hand.

Zhenzhen understood that he did so because he looked down on her and feared she would cling to him, hoping to climb the social ladder.

But she wouldn't.

Later, as the curse grew weaker, Zhenzhen breathed a sigh of relief and began planning how to spend the gold she was to receive and what her future would look like.

But during one attempt to break the curse, Lu Heng heard her murmur her fiancé's name. He raised his eyes from her foot and gazed at her darkly. Zhenzhen tried to pull her foot away in fear, but the hand around her ankle only tightened. He leaned close with a faint, knowing smile and asked, "What gave you that impression?"

"These clothes? Or was I simply too gentle in bed?"

1. Both leads have only ever been with each other, but the female lead will be intimate with the second male lead.

2. The male lead is young, though he is senior in the family hierarchy.

3. Dramatic, melodramatic plot twists are possible.

Theme: Love should be honest and passionate.