◎ Each of the fake spouses has a grave in their heart
◎ Marriage first, love later + substitute + secret identities revealed
Qin Zhao had been married into her husband's family for over a year. Because she had no children, her mother-in-law made life difficult for her at every turn. Fortunately, her husband stood up for her. Unfortunately, he wouldn't consummate their marriage.
When her mother-in-law finally suggested divorcing her and taking another wife, Qin Zhao nearly blurted out, "Why not marry your widowed sister-in-law instead?"
But remembering that Chu Heng had once helped her, she swallowed the words and changed her answer. "Mother is right. Let's do that."
Qin Zhao took the divorce agreement to Chu Heng to sign. But he wouldn't put pen to paper. As they were locked in a stalemate, the government arrived to conscript men. The enemy was approaching, and Chu Heng was drafted.
Holding the divorce agreement, Qin Zhao looked at Chu Heng's mother, who was nearly crying herself unconscious, and her sister-in-law, whose eyes were brimming with tears. She scratched her head.
Two months later, the area fell. Qin Zhao fled with the family, but became separated from her sister-in-law on the way. To her utter surprise, when they met again, her husband had become a fierce general sent to quell the rebellion. The first thing he did when he saw her was beg her to rescue his sister-in-law, who had been captured by the enemy.
Only then did she learn that for over a year, her sister-in-law had been by his side. Even the enemy had mistaken the woman for his wife. And the miniature portrait of his late wife that Qi An, the enemy commander, always carried looked exactly like his true wife.
Qin Zhao laughed in disbelief. Her husband was asking her to use her face to save a woman whose relationship with him was anything but proper.
And she knew that she and the woman in that portrait didn't merely look alike. She was the woman in it. She had fled here precisely to avoid Qi An.
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Qi An had caught an epidemic while marching years ago. Fortunately, a mountain mystic saved him. He was unconscious for several days, and when he woke, all he remembered was a pair of gentle hands wiping his face and feeding him medicine.
After the war ended, he met the owner of those hands again. This time, she poisoned him, and he drank it.
Lying in bed, dazed and weak, he listened to the weeping all around him and finally decided to try anything, even if it was a desperate gamble: he would marry a wife to bring him good luck.
His new wife entered the house and personally wiped his face and fed him medicine. Sure enough, he gradually recovered.
Then war broke out again, and he was away from home for half a year. When he heard the tragic news, his wife had died saving his mother.
He had always known she was no ordinary woman. But remembering how she had once welcomed him into her arms, he couldn't believe she had been entirely indifferent to him. He couldn't understand her. Sometimes he was angry with her and resented her; other times, longing for her made his whole body ache.
When he heard the enemy general's wife looked exactly like her, his gaze turned cold and his heart raced. She had better really be dead. Otherwise, they would settle both old and new scores!
💡 None of the characters are purely good, and none are perfect. One-on-one romance, both leads are virgins, happy ending.
Theme: They all mean it
