Why Does Yan Jiulang Hate Me?

A Wei-Jin gentleman who insists he hates her but whose body tells the truth X a seemingly gentle woman who's clear-eyed inside and good at hiding her feelings [Please add my upcoming novel to your favorites: "Madam Always Thinks She's a Concubine." Blurb below]

Sang Jin was engaged to someone, and she adored him. She was willing to do anything for him.

Her betrothed held her hand, gazing at her with tender affection.

"My beloved, you must temporarily marry Yan Linfu, though it pains me to ask. If you don't want to, he won't touch you. Once I rise again, I'll marry you openly and honorably."

"But..."

"But what? I know Brother Linfu well. He's pure and noble, a free-spirited gentleman untouched by the world's dust. He'd never force anyone. Even if you never consummate the marriage, he'll treat you well."

"But..." But when she first met Yan Linfu, he nearly drowned her.

"Enough. No more 'buts.'" Her betrothed drew her gently into his arms.

Sang Jin agreed.

She successfully latched onto Yan Linfu. On the second day after their wedding, well past midmorning, Sang Jin clutched her aching waist and nearly cried. This wasn't how it was supposed to go! Yan Linfu was nothing like that!

In his previous life, Yan Linfu had devoted himself to his family and the people, only for his wife to betray him for her lover. The city fell, its people perished, and a century of the Yan family's good name was ruined because of him.

After dying, he was reborn before Sang Jin had married him.

His very first words were:

"Kill Sang Jin."

One day after their wedding.

Sang Jin hid alone in the lotus pond, drinking.

Half drunk and half awake, she saw an immortal, graceful and radiant as a jade tree in a forest of precious stones.

The immortal glanced at her coolly. "Why are you crying?"

With bleary, drunken eyes, Sang Jin leaned into his arms. "I'm sinful. I think I've fallen for two men. Am I just too fickle?"

The immortal sneered and roughly wiped away her tears. "You've simply been blinded. You haven't figured out whom you truly want."

"Th-then what if I want both?"

Yan Linfu, the immortal, said nothing. He lowered his head, gripped her chin, and kissed her.

Only later, Sang Jin once again stood on the city wall with her lover.

Blurb for the upcoming novel "Madam Always Thinks She's a Concubine"

Zhuang Jingrong had lost her memory.

From the notebook she always carried, she learned that she was the concubine of Xu Xinfang, the youngest grand secretary in the current dynasty.

Xu Xinfang had a beautiful, dignified, and virtuous wife. Unfortunately, Xu Xinfang didn't love her, and she had been killed by the bloodthirsty mansion she lived in.

Just from reading the description, Zhuang Jingrong felt sorry for the wife.

Learning from her example, she decided to fight back hard.

Her mother-in-law hinted that she should be more magnanimous and help Xu Xinfang take a concubine. Zhuang Jingrong backed away repeatedly. "I don't understand, I don't understand. That's not a concubine's responsibility."

Her sisters-in-law tried to discuss each household's income and expenses with her. She waved them off again and again. "What's mine is mine. I'm not pooling it."

The grown-up cousin who had lived at the house for years was always hovering around Xu Xinfang, speaking in that coy, affected way. So she wanted to see who could be more of a tease? Seizing her chance, Zhuang Jingrong abruptly slapped her, then threw herself into Xu Xinfang's arms as he happened to arrive, crying, "Giegie~ Don't misunderstand Cousin! Every last bit of this is my fault~"

A sweet little child, as cute as a snowy dumpling, called her Mother in a childish voice. She sternly corrected them: "I'm not your mother. Call me Big Sister."

The little one blinked in confusion and looked at their father, the grand secretary. He was rubbing his forehead with his eyes lowered, his expression extraordinarily grim.

The grand secretary's wife had gone mad, and from then on, the entire Xu household was in an uproar.

The usually peaceful Xu household had recently become a headache for Grand Secretary Xu.

The legitimate wife he had married with all the proper ceremonies had suffered an accident and returned insisting she was his concubine.

The doctor said she had injured her brain and mustn't be upset, so he had to go along with her and play along.

Could this woman, who spoke such nonsense and whom even a passing dog would kick, really be his gentle, quiet, and reserved wife?

From then on, after finishing his work at court, the grand secretary went home and got busy all over again: helping her handle household affairs and dealing with trivial matters. The more he did, the more he found himself enjoying it.

Even the people who had long served by his side said that their lord had seemed more human lately.

But he happened to discover that this woman was secretly meeting his friend and saying things like, "You're my lover," while asking the friend to take her far away.

It was as if something inside him had been overturned.

A concubine, was she? If she was a concubine, then why bother respecting the wife?

It wasn't until he finally discovered that notebook and turned through it page by page that he realized a priceless treasure had been right beside him, gathering dust for years.

Theme: Stay true to yourself. If something is worth fighting for, fight for it instead of always backing away and avoiding it.