[Marriage first, love later / The male lead (pretends to) lose his memory / They fight over each other / She pulls away, he pursues / One-on-one, both virgins, happy ending]
[A killer living it up in the Marquis's residence x a tea-flavored marquis pretending to have amnesia]
Xie Yuanzhi, the Northern Pacifying Marquis who died five years ago, came back to life.
When news reached the capital, Qiao Yan's hand, resting on a male courtesan's abs, trembled. She sobered up in an instant.
She quickly changed out of the white dress she'd worn as a widow for years, then dashed back to the Marquis's residence.
She ran along Vermilion Bird Street in the capital, her hairpins and ornaments flying loose. Her eyes were red and brimming with tears, and she stumbled along without stopping.
Passersby assumed she was so happy she'd lost her mind.
But only she knew the truth.
She was as good as dead.
Because five years ago,
Xie Yuanzhi had been stabbed by her own hand before falling off a pleasure boat.
If he hadn't kicked the bucket, then she was the one who was going to die!
She hadn't even finished packing when Xie Yuanzhi walked through the door.
Just as she was regretting how she'd let her martial arts go to waste by living too comfortably, Xie Yuanzhi turned to her, his eyes shining like stars.
"You look familiar. I take it you're my wife?"
The good news: He'd lost his memory.
The bad news: He thought they'd been deeply in love.
During the five years Qiao Yan had spent lying low in the Marquis's residence,
she'd gotten used to living in luxury. She probably wouldn't enjoy returning to the wilderness and the martial world.
So she decided to keep lying low a little longer.
The amnesiac Xie Yuanzhi was like a completely different person.
At court, he smiled and greeted his former colleagues, making their hair stand on end.
After court, he clung to Qiao Yan like a piece of sticky plaster.
He wanted to hug her, kiss her, and sleep beside her.
Whenever Qiao Yan dodged him or turned him down,
he would gaze at her with wounded eyes and complain pitifully.
"My lady, we've only been apart for five years. Have you already fallen out of love with me? Everyone says I'm the one you love most."
Qiao Yan gritted her teeth.
She could only endure his repeated advances, and the way he kept pushing his luck, night after night.
Later,
Qiao Yan's identity as a killer was exposed. She tried to run, but Xie Yuanzhi caught her and brought her back.
The news spread throughout the capital. Everyone waited to see how Xie Yuanzhi would deal with Qiao Yan, the traitor.
But to their surprise,
nothing happened at the Northern Pacifying Marquis's residence for a whole day.
A month passed, and still nothing happened.
Someone couldn't resist asking Xie Yuanzhi about it. He looked shocked. "My colleague, you shouldn't spread rumors. My wife is kindhearted. She wouldn't even step on an ant, so how could she possibly be a killer?"
That very day at court, Xie Yuanzhi spoke up in Qiao Yan's defense.
Every word was heartfelt, every sentence full of anguish. He demanded that those spreading rumors be severely punished.
Later,
someone went on an outing in the countryside outside the capital and saw the Northern Pacifying Marquis with his wife.
Their fingers were intertwined, and they looked deeply in love.
Qiao Yan's expression was a little off, and she walked unsteadily. She looked displeased with Xie Yuanzhi, while he gazed down at her gently and softly coaxed her.
From then on,
everyone in the capital was completely convinced that the story about Qiao Yan being a killer was just a rumor.
1. One-on-one, happy ending, both virgins, male lead is sexually inexperienced. The heroine once liked someone when she was young, but later falls for the male lead.
2. The story begins with the male lead's return. The past is revealed in flashbacks.
3. The relationship between the leads developed before. The heroine just didn't realize she was in love.
Theme: Love is boundless acceptance
