A Spring Night with My Widowed Sister-in-Law

Cen Jing is a frail young man who falls ill easily and has taken medicine for as long as he can remember.

If his mother's family had not been powerful and he had not been betrothed to the General's household before he was even born, the child without anyone to protect him would have been devoured by the flock of scheming women in the inner quarters.

He thought he would spend his life trapped inside the family estate, living out his days in obscurity.

But after the wedding, he discovers that his husband seems to be hiding an unspeakable secret...

*

As the wedding approaches, his eldest brother goes missing.

Xiao Yunchi has no choice but to take his brother's place and marry his not-yet-wed sister-in-law, who has already been forced to "become a widow."

The red candles flicker. The graceful figure, made all the more striking by the wedding robes, stands out vividly.

Xiao Yunchi, stepping in at the last minute: Let's just come clean and go our separate ways.

But when those pale fingertips rest on the back of his hand, their cool, delicate touch goes straight to his heart.

After the veil is lifted, Cen Jing looks up, only to see his husband fleeing in disarray.

*

Before the wedding, Xiao Yunchi: He's my sister-in-law. I can't betray my big brother!

After the wedding, Xiao Yunchi: To hell with that! I'm the one who married him, so why is he my sister-in-law? I'll raise hell in the ancestral hall today and make them put my name next to his!

Cen Jing, still in the dark, watches Xiao Yunchi leap around the house and cause chaos for the whole family, feeling increasingly apprehensive.

--Has my husband become so indecently obsessed that he's lost his mind?

*Reading Guide:

1. Calm and reserved, low-energy, frail but phoenix-like and impossible to kill, quiet with a running inner monologue, a seemingly obedient and aloof wife (Cen Jing) VS a human beagle, high-energy, strong as an ox, doting husband and hopeless romantic, a fake playboy (Xiao Yunchi)

2. One-on-one, husband dotes on wife, strong one-sided infatuation from the husband, devoted husband and a wife adored by everyone, faux brothers-in-law setup, many secret identities, shamelessly indulgent and fluffy romance

3. Entirely fictional setting with no real-world basis. Just enjoy it; don't overanalyze.

Theme: Written January 22, 2026