Back to Before My Ex-Husband Died in Battle for Me

★ Both are each other's first and only. Unrequited love | Reconciliation after a breakup | Sweet married life

★ Radiant heiress x a strong man who's cold on the surface but deeply in love

Meng Zhuochun is the Junzhu of the Duke of Heng's household,

the most dazzling jewel in Yujing by popular acclaim.

She loves splendor and bustle,

the glittering lantern festivals of Yujing, and the gentle young man waiting beneath the lanterns with a smile.

And what she hates most

is the endless beacon fires along the border, and the rough men who can do nothing but fight, spears in hand amid mountains of corpses and seas of blood.

So when the Meng family fell into decline and she was forced to marry a border guard general born a slave, she was certain she would never miss the days she had spent with Xie Xun in Hexi, even on her deathbed.

But when death truly came,

it was the gentle Crown Prince she had always kept hidden in her heart who personally ordered the extermination of the Wen clan. He had more than three hundred cuts carved into her body, then had her hung at the city gate to suffer the wind and rain.

Meanwhile, her former husband, who had always been taciturn and cold toward her, with not a trace of tenderness between them, stormed the imperial city and slew her enemies.

Even branded a traitor and pierced by countless arrows, he still used his cleanest hands to gather her remains with care, lay her in a coffin, and bury her beneath the crabapple tree she loved most.

-

When Meng Zhuochun opened her eyes again,

she was back on the night before she and Xie Xun were to divorce.

At the time, she had just angered him by helping the Crown Prince spy on the Northwest Army's secrets, and he had locked her in their room to reprimand her.

The man wore a grim expression, his voice cold. Every movement carried an air of authority, as if he were about to disembowel her.

"Do you even know who the husband you proclaimed to the world is? Who you ought to stand by? Even if we're going to divorce, at this moment you're still my wife, Xie Xun's wife, and you should fulfill the duties expected of a member of the Xie family!"

Meng Zhuochun curled her fingers around his and breathed softly in his ear. "How would you like me to fulfill my duties as your wife?"

The mighty general who would not yield to force turned red at the ears in an instant. Gritting his teeth, he snapped, "Y-you're being outrageous!"

Yet he never pushed her away.

Only later did Meng Zhuochun learn that this man had been secretly in love with her for years, even back when he was an unknown slave in Yujing.

Every battle he had won and every military achievement he had earned was his clumsy, earnest way of declaring his love with all he had.

(Blurb dated 2025.11.11)

Theme: Through my rugged years, embrace my nine springs.