Don't Believe Me? Ask Your Sister-in-Law

After three years of marriage, Wu Xianzhi and her husband are deeply devoted to each other, and their life together is blissful. The only thing troubling her is that they have no children, while her mother-in-law is desperate for a grandchild and constantly urges them to try.

To escape the three bowls of pitch-black tonic she has to drink every day, which smell so awful they make her want to throw up, Wu Xianzhi lies and says she is already pregnant. Her mother-in-law beams with delight and sends over all kinds of treasures for her to enjoy.

Wu Xianzhi figures that her husband will be home in half a month. She can simply try hard to get pregnant then. Half a month should be enough.

But she never expected that her husband would return to find his twin brother, her younger brother-in-law, dead. The funeral will last three months. Her husband is devastated and spends every day keeping vigil, seeing her only rarely, let alone sharing a bed with her.

She can't wait three months.

After repeatedly hinting to her husband to no avail, she can only take a desperate gamble.

That night, she carries a bowl of tonic laced with drugs and knocks on the door of the mourning hall.

*

His elder brother died in battle. Afraid the news would upset his sister-in-law, who has just become pregnant, his mother orders him to impersonate his brother for a year.

Yu Linchuan is unwilling, of course, but his mother threatens to kill herself, leaving him no choice but to agree.

His sister-in-law is reserved and speaks little. Yu Linchuan plans to avoid her as much as possible under the pretext of mourning, then explain everything after she gives birth. Given her temperament, she should never suspect a thing.

But his sister-in-law isn't quite what he expected...

He dares not cross the line and flees in a panic each time. Yet whenever he is alone, he can't help wondering what his elder brother would do...

One night, she corners him in the mourning hall. Her shoulder is half bare as she feeds him ginseng soup herself. “My lord has grown so thin these past few days. I can't help but worry.”

If he were his elder brother, he would never bear to disappoint her.

Watching the white powder swirling in the soup, he parts his lips as if possessed.

Sister-in-law, can you tell my brother and me apart?

Which of us pleases you more?

*

After faking his death for a year, Yu Shechuan is finally able to return home. His family is safe and sound, and his wife has even given birth to a daughter. Overjoyed, he rushes straight to their courtyard.

The begonias are still blooming, and a few pink petals drift into his wife's hair as she sits on a swing beneath the tree. His heart melts.

His younger brother approaches with their newborn daughter in his arms. Yu Shechuan happily steps forward, only to hear him say:

“Brother, the child really is mine. If you don't believe me, ask Sister-in-law.”

|A cool beauty who saves her surprises for the perfect moment VS a nameless, unrecognized man who gets jealous of absolutely everything, a jade-faced Imperial Guard|

*The heroine has no prior sexual experience, while the hero does. One-on-one romance, happy ending.

*The heroine is not pregnant at any point in the main story. She might be in the extras.

*There are more than two male love interests, including an emperor. Three men compete for one woman, and there will be a love rivalry later on, but the story is still one-on-one!

Next novel: “Gu Raising,” blurb below:

|Wily, lively Miaojiang saintess × aloof, older power minister|

The emperor's selfish desire | The powerful one bows his head | Coercive possession

Yinqiao, a Miaojiang saintess, has spent eight years in the Central Plains as a hostage. Desperate to return home, she presents the new emperor with a lavish gift and begs to travel back with the Miaojiang tribute officials.

The stones in Chongyuan Hall are cold. Yinqiao's knees ache from kneeling, but then Chancellor Xiao Chi speaks up: “I believe this cannot be allowed.”

Xiao Chi, Chancellor Xiao, Grand Tutor Xiao, Lord Xiao: his heavy brows shade his eyes, and his upright bearing borders on coldness. He looks stern, and regards people as if grading examination papers. Even the emperor gives way to him in court. He is unquestionably the foremost of the ministers and a pillar of the state.

If he says no, Yinqiao will never be able to return home.

·

That night, rain pours down in torrents.

Yinqiao stages an utterly unconvincing fall right in front of Xiao Chi's carriage.

Xiao Chi holds his umbrella and looks down at Yinqiao, covered in mud at his feet. With a sigh, he reaches out to her.

It is a fleeting moment of pity, but Yinqiao seizes the opening and plants a gu on him.

“Lord Xiao, from now on, I am your saintess.”

“You must obey the saintess. Otherwise, the gu will gnaw through your bones.”

As fierce wind and rain howl, her silver bells ring softly, and Xiao Chi is wracked with bone-deep pain.

“Now, the saintess commands you to kneel.”

·

Xiao Chi prides himself on his integrity and devotion to the people. He tells himself that his attentiveness and indulgence toward Yinqiao over the past six months are nothing but a pretense. But a secret message from Miaojiang reports that the submission gu has long been extinct, and Yinqiao has no power to control gu at all.

Xiao Chi scoffs and burns the message to ash. Watching the candle flame scorch his fingertips, he remains certain:

She really has bewitched him.

He catches Yinqiao as she tries to run away, stuffs her into a bridal sedan, and marries her into his household.

All Yinqiao wants is to return home. She thinks that if she can make Xiao Chi remember all the days she humiliated him, he will let her go.

So inside the bridal sedan, she presses the muddy sole of her shoe against Xiao Chi's chest as he kneels before her and says with vicious delight, “Kneel on the other knee, too.”

She never expected Xiao Chi to actually kneel.

By the time Yinqiao realizes something is wrong, it is too late.

Xiao Chi grips her retreating ankle and presses down on the back of her neck, forcing her to meet his devout gaze.

“As you command, my saintess.”

Theme: Live in the present