An Honest Man, Forced to Take Two Wives

----Coming soon: The Widow’s Ex-Husband Secretly Covets Her---- A powerful man lowering his head / marrying a brother’s widow [Honest, awkward young widow × her obsessive, sinister, older brother-in-law] Not long after her wedding, she miscarried and fell ill, then her husband plunged off a cliff and died. Her parents-in-law pressured her to marry her husband’s brother and bear him a child, while her parents back home pushed her to seek wealth and status among the powerful families. Song Qingwu had no choice but to accept the divorce papers, then turn around and marry Xie Yunzheng, her late husband’s twin brother. Although the two brothers looked exactly alike, the younger one was sinister, violent, and mercurial, like a beautiful demon who might devour human blood at any moment. He was nothing like her late husband, who had been gentle as jade, upright, and sunny. Song Qingwu still loved her late husband, and suffered every day, while being forced to endure her new husband’s torment. She only wanted to get pregnant soon and put an end to this absurd arrangement, but before she knew it, she was mired too deeply to escape. Terrified, Song Qingwu packed her things and tried to run away, only to see a ghost in broad daylight. In the study, her late husband was arguing with her current husband. “Xie Yunzheng! You knew I only faked my death so I could spend the last six months with Yue’er. A-Wu asked you to father her child. Why didn’t you refuse?” The man snarling with fury and a twisted expression could be none other than her late husband, Xie Chengyin. She heard Xie Yunzheng reply mockingly, “You faked your death to be with another woman. Why shouldn’t I seize my chance and take your place? Brother, you’re awfully greedy. You want it all.” Song Qingwu stood frozen, clutching her bundle, unable to collect herself… Should she still run away from the Xie family? Xie Yunzheng knew he was no good man. Ever since childhood, he had been solitary and eccentric, and never won the elders’ favor. No matter how capable he was or how far his cunning surpassed his older brother’s, the family’s power and assets still all went to his brother. Until his idiot older brother decided to fake his death and disappear to be with a woman. Their parents arranged for his brother and sister-in-law to divorce, then pushed his sister-in-law onto him as his wife. Xie Yunzheng found it amusing and looked forward to seeing his brother’s reaction when he returned. As time passed, his feelings grew more intense. Teasing her, he asked, “Why not forget your late husband, Madam, and be a real married couple with me?” But she turned deathly pale. “How could I? We married only so I could bear a child for Brother Chengyin. We can never be together for long. Besides, there’s only one man in my heart, even though he’s dead…” “Heh…” She dared mention another man in his bed. His little wife clearly hadn’t learned her lesson. Reader’s Guide: 1. The heroine has had previous partners; the hero has not. They compete openly and fiercely. 2. Older hero, coercive possessiveness, and an outrageous amount of melodrama. 3. Both leads are flawed and selfish. ------The Widow’s Ex-Husband Secretly Covets Her------ [Timid, honest, and tenacious little ray of sunshine VS A suicidal, depressed, irresistible patriarch from a feudal world] The day Lin Zhenchun was chosen as a courtesan at the Blissful House, she was accidentally dragged off to help a certain lord with his love poison. By a twist of fate, she became Cui Xun’s concubine. She never expected that her handsome new master would spend every day either solving cases as an upright official or taking poison, trying to hang himself, or jumping into rivers. He was quite devoted to finding ways to die. Zhenchun was troubled, so she tried to care for him the way she remembered her mother caring for her father. As their feelings grew, he finally stopped trying to kill himself. But then an imperial decree arrived out of nowhere. Cui Xun left, saying he would be back in a month, then vanished without a trace. People laughed at her. “He’s from the prestigious Cui family in the capital. You’re worlds apart. He’s never coming back.” Zhenchun asked innocently, “What does ‘worlds apart’ mean?” “He’s a cloud in the sky, and you’re mud beneath his feet.” Zhenchun sat there for a long time, from night until dawn, then packed her little bundle and found herself homeless once again. She wouldn’t wait for him anymore. Three years later, her husband died in battle, entrusting her to the care of a married couple. She was brought to their home as a widow, only to discover that the master of the house was none other than Cui Xian, the heartless man who had abandoned her. He left her in a separate residence, ignoring her, yet secretly kept the wine cup she had just used, sniffing it obsessively when no one was around. Summoning her courage, she approached him. “Hey! Why are you sniffing a cup I used?” He came closer step by step, then grabbed her. “Have we met somewhere before?” * Cui Xian never thought he would live long, and he truly didn’t want to. Born with the bones of a beauty, he had been unable to touch women since childhood. The moment he did, desire took control of his body. Before he had ever known a woman, it was bearable. Then, by accident, he slept with a courtesan from Yuzhou. With no other choice, he kept her. She was crude, unrefined, and strong as an ox. But she was also warm, passionate, and full of life. He suddenly felt that living wasn’t so unbearable after all. An imperial decree brought him back to the family that disgusted him, drove him mad, and had pushed him to attempt suicide again and again. They forced him to marry. After fierce resistance, he fell seriously ill. When he opened his eyes again, it seemed he had forgotten something very important. He was thoroughly tamed. He married a princess, entered officialdom, rose to high office, and became a powerful minister. Gradually, he grew numb. Then, three years later, he kept his promise to look after his deceased close friend’s widow. The moment he saw that graceful figure, his breath caught. Major trigger warnings: 1. Both leads are virgins when they meet, but the heroine later marries another man and is no longer a virgin. 2. After the hero loses his memory, he is manipulated into marrying someone else, but they never consummate the marriage. 3. Amnesia and creepy secret-watching themes. 4. This entire story exists to indulge the author’s strange tastes and kinks. I’m awful and depraved! Theme: Striving for a better life