When the Cold Rain Stops

● Coming soon: Who Is the Wife? It’ll be my next book. Please add it to your library!

● Timid × aloof and arrogant

Sang Yao had been timid and weak since childhood, with little standing in the Sang family and everyone taking liberties with her. Then her legitimate elder sister ran away from her wedding. Unwilling to offend the powerful Cen family, the Sangs hurriedly sent Sang Yao to the bridal sedan in her place.

The Cen family had two sons.

The elder, Cen Huaiyan, was the Grand Secretary, aloof and proud.

The younger, Cen Huaixiao, was a Lieutenant General, reckless and cruel.

Sang Yao wanted nothing to do with them. All she wanted was to keep her head down and hide away.

But the Sang family used her birth mother and younger brother to threaten her, insisting she win over everyone in the Cen household so they would be ready to welcome her elder sister back.

Her husband was cold, so the vicious servants at her side shoved her toward him, urging her to throw herself at him.

Caught between a wolf and a tiger, Sang Yao's face turned deathly pale with fear. In the end, she could only stammer out a nervous smile. “H-husband...”

Her brother-in-law was arrogant and never let her off easily whenever they met in the manor.

Sang Yao was truly afraid, but all she could do was keep retreating, pleading softly, “Please stop teasing me...”

.

The marriage alliance with the Sang family was only meant to put the emperor's suspicions to rest. So the moment Cen Huaiyan saw Sang Yao, he knew she'd been switched for the wrong bride.

Who she was didn't matter. It was enough that, on the surface, he had married into the Sang family.

Watching her tremble all over as she tried to please him, though plainly terrified, Cen Huaiyan remained unmoved. He only lowered his eyes and reminded her, his meaning unclear.

“Do what is expected of you. Do not overstep.”

He knew Sang Yao didn't want to act this way, and he had no intention of getting entangled with her either.

But Sang Yao was timid and foolish, repeatedly threatened and coerced. Even as she shook with fear, she would timidly tug at his sleeve, as if he were some noble, benevolent gentleman.

As time went by, Cen Huaiyan thought that perhaps it wouldn't be so bad to give her a small corner to live out her life in peace.

.

His elder brother was getting married. He'd heard his bride was the Sang family's legitimate daughter: spoiled, willful, beautiful, and useless.

At their first meeting, Cen Huaixiao sat atop a wall. He replaced the cold arrow in his hand with a sprig of osmanthus and tossed it carelessly, hitting his sister-in-law on the head.

Her cry of pain sent the servants into a panic.

Sang Yao looked up, clutching her head. Cen Huaixiao crushed what little courage she'd managed to gather with a single look.

“Please don't scare me. I'm your sister-in-law...” Her voice was barely audible.

Cen Huaixiao scoffed.

She was just a pretty fake, dependent on his brother. No matter how he toyed with her, his brother wouldn't care.

Did she really imagine they'd turn against each other over her?

Later, when he saw Sang Yao trying to please Cen Huaiyan again, Cen Huaixiao wondered: Why could his brother have her, but he couldn't?

Having to endure Cen Huaiyan's coldness and Cen Huaixiao's cruelty every day was unbearable for Sang Yao.

Fortunately, good news arrived from home: her elder sister had returned.

“You useless coward. You've enjoyed the riches for long enough. Did you think you could just refuse to come back?”

Sang Yao shook her head frantically in fright.

How could she? She dreamed of escaping.

That very night, the Sang household descended into chaos, iron armor gleaming in the darkness.

Sang Yao was dragged out of a dilapidated courtyard.

Amid the blazing flames, Cen Huaiyan and Cen Huaixiao wore grim expressions.

“Yao Yao, where do you think you're running?”

[Reading Guide]

Both male leads are sexually and romantically pure, so don't worry ^^

My Weibo: Jinjiang Jiang Xian. Come say hi! ≥v≤

The setting is fictional, with many liberties taken. Please don't overanalyze it.

Possessive romance, melodramatic relationships, powerful men and a weak woman, with all the classic tropes.

While the heroine is still married to the elder brother, she has no intimate relationship or romantic entanglement with the younger brother. Their mutual feelings develop after the marriage ends.

Please don't send unsolicited writing advice. This blurb was screenshotted on December 4, 2025. No copying or imitating.

No secondary couples, and I won't delete comments.

[Content Warnings]

The leads both have flaws early on.

Neither male lead respects anyone. The elder brother is cold and the younger brother is cruel. At first, the elder brother is indifferent to the heroine, and the younger brother uses insulting language and speaks bluntly and explicitly.

The heroine grows, but slowly and only to a limited extent.

If anything makes you uncomfortable, please click the back button in the upper left to leave. There's no need to tell me you're dropping the book.

[Coming Soon: A Sweet 1v1 Romance! Click the notice board to go straight there ^^]

■ Gentle homemaker × brooding emperor

After three years of marriage, Cui Manyu and her husband were deeply in love and blissfully happy. Not long ago, she discovered she was pregnant.

One day, while she was out, she passed by the hills behind her home and came across a badly wounded, unconscious man.

Cui Manyu was frightened, but he was still breathing. After hesitating for a long while, she brought him home.

Thankfully, her husband only praised her kind heart when he found out and didn't mind.

Cui Manyu was kindhearted and took the man in. He was solitary and taciturn, but fairly sensible. When her husband was away, he could chop wood, boil water, feed the chickens, and tend the ducks.

Perhaps because of his head injury, though, Cui Manyu always found his gaze unsettling when they were alone.

...Especially when he was staring at her.

After caring for him for three months, Cui Manyu's belly had grown larger by the day, and she could no longer keep him in the house. She discussed it with her husband, and they decided to give the man some money and send him away the next day.

But that night, armor clanged outside and flames blazed. The door was kicked open, and cavalry poured in.

Her husband held Cui Manyu tightly in his arms, panic-stricken.

As the crowd parted, Cui Manyu looked up and saw a familiar figure approaching.

Cheng Shixu stood before her, looking down at her, his eyes cold and his voice soft.

“Are you going to abandon me, Cui-niang?”

.

Cheng Shixu ascended the throne at seventeen. In just three years, the realm was peaceful and prosperous.

When a local official in Jiangnan lined his own pockets, Cheng Shixu went undercover to investigate, only to be ambushed and fall off a cliff. He was gravely injured and lost consciousness.

He woke when soft fingers brushed his brow. Before him was a woman with a curvy figure and beautiful features.

He was about to speak when someone pushed open the door. The woman immediately left him and rushed into a man's arms.

She called him softly, “Husband.”

Cheng Shixu's gaze lowered to the slight swell of her belly beneath her loose clothes.

He said he'd lost his memory, was badly injured, and had nowhere to go.

Cui Manyu really was softhearted, and took him in.

Her husband was lowborn and poor. For a few silver coins, he went out every day, leaving her alone at home.

As Cheng Shixu chopped wood, he couldn't help wondering:

Was her husband out hunting, or did he have a mistress?

He thought:

If he had a wife like her, he would never leave her, day or night, until death.

He thought again:

Being close gives you the first chance. If they had met, then it must be fate.

He served her devotedly for three months, and now she wanted him gone.

Cheng Shixu expressionlessly crushed his thumb ring and changed his mind.

He could even tolerate her carrying another man's child and having no feelings for him.

But she ought to be his wife.

.

When the exalted emperor returned to the capital, a village woman was hidden in his carriage.

She knelt on the soft couch, weeping pitifully, arms around her pregnant belly, softly begging him to let her go.

“Cui-niang, save your strength. You can cry later.”

He pressed close to her ear, his voice low and tender.

Theme: Live well