After I Pledged My Life to My Third Uncle

(This story takes place after Song of the Chile. It can be read on its own 🥰 I’ll get to it after finishing The Princess’s Rough-Hewn Lover!)

-Age gap / 1v2, a ruler and his two close friends competing for one woman / one heroine, two male leads / faux uncle-niece romance with Male Lead 1 / the ruler steals his subject’s wife with Male Lead 2 / angsty, bittersweet romance

-Willful, cool beauty with a bewitching charm × gentle, principled gentleman × calculating, obsessive ruler

Synopsis:

In early spring, the nobles of Northern Yan held their customary spring hunt banquet.

On the night the gathering ended, the ruler, Li Xiutan, was lost in thought. Remembering the radiant beauty he had glimpsed on the grasslands, he had already drawn up the marriage edict to make her his queen countless times in his mind.

As he made his way to his close friend’s tent, he planned to discuss the matter with him. He and Chi Minglan were as close as brothers, and the woman he wanted to marry was his friend’s niece.

Through the flickering lamplight, it seemed there were two people embracing inside the tent.

The shadows and light made the scene within almost perfectly clear to Li Xiutan.

“Uncle…” The young woman cooed at him, then kissed the man on the cheek.

“Jing’er, you mustn’t… This isn’t proper.”

The man wasn’t resisting so much as helplessly indulging her.

Li Xiutan watched their silhouettes coldly. After having someone announce his arrival, he went in as if nothing were amiss.

After making the usual inquiries about official matters, he noticed a faint pink mark on his friend’s cheek, like a lipstick stain.

As if someone had just kissed him there.

To confirm his suspicions, he casually brought up his friend’s niece:

“Your eldest daughter is old enough to marry. Have you found a suitable match for her?”

“Jing’er is still young and doesn’t know the rules. She can wait another two years while her parents and I teach her before she marries.” Chi Minglan’s expression was calm, but the shadows in his eyes betrayed his feelings.

Li Xiutan glanced behind the screen at the corner of a pink skirt that had not been hidden in time. His gaze darkened as he understood.

So the uncle and niece were already in love. He was the outsider.

But… when the ruler wants his subject’s wife, how could the subject refuse?

…

After their forbidden relationship was exposed, Chi Yuejing was sent to a rural Taoist temple and confined there under the pretense of helping her find peace of mind.

To protect themselves, the elders of her clan added an aphrodisiac to the incense burner, intending to offer her to the ruler.

Li Xiutan was tricked into coming there. Just as he rushed anxiously into the inner room, a pair of hands pulled him behind the curtains…

When the drug took effect, Chi Yuejing was confused and reached up to touch his cheek.

“Uncle… I heard my uncle and father hit you. Does it hurt?”

Before he could answer, her lips were already on his.

One mistook him for someone else; the other went along with the mistake.

After a night of passion, Li Xiutan saw the terror in her eyes. He took her hand and said, almost pleadingly,

“You and him can never be together in this world…”

I’ll love you more than he does.

Chi Yuejing composed herself and slapped him.

“Please show some respect. I would never marry anyone but him!”

The young woman was as beautiful as fresh snow. Even with red plum blossoms scattered over her body, she still radiated an untouchable pride from deep within.

Her dark hair, stirred by the evening breeze and carrying the scent of jasmine, awakened the obsession in his heart.

Li Xiutan suppressed the bitterness inside him, his gaze dark.

You would never marry anyone but him?

…

That night, a storm was gathering. The uncle and niece, who had pledged themselves to each other, rode out of Yan’s capital under cover of darkness.

On the grasslands beneath a low, black sky, the ruler Li Xiutan personally led his troops to stop them. He brought two edicts:

The first stripped Chi Minglan of his title and sentenced him to death, to be held in prison until his execution.

The second named Chi Yuejing queen, with their wedding to take place three months later.

The ruler’s personal guards forcibly separated the pair. Chi Yuejing watched her uncle collapse unconscious, vomiting blood, and felt her heart twist in agony.

“Please spare him. I’ll do anything…”

Li Xiutan helped her to her feet and kissed the crown of her head.

Then he looked up, his gaze turning instantly cold. “Blind him.”

Chi Yuejing struggled like a madwoman, but the man held her tightly in his arms.

“If Jing’er keeps seeing him, I’ll cut off his hands and feet and make him a complete cripple.”

Reader’s guide:

1. This is a 1v2 love triangle, and both men are male leads and endgame partners. The heroine is devoted to both emotionally and physically. Her third uncle is nine years older, and the ruler is ten years older.

2. The heroine and her third uncle are not blood relatives. The whole family knows he was adopted.

3. The ruler has an adopted son, a sweet, innocent puppy type who also likes the heroine.

4. The heroine has been married to both male leads and has children with them. The ending is HE for all three.

Theme: When the wildflowers bloom across the hills, she smiles among them.