For every year they were married, Shang Chu hated Pei Lingyao for a year.
First, he hated that the night before their wedding, she secretly met Song Yunzhou late at night, carrying a bundle and planning to elope.
Second, he hated that after they made love and fell asleep, she dreamed of Song Yunzhou and murmured his name.
Third, he hated that when they ran into bandits and she was in danger, Song Yunzhou was the first person she called for help.
Fourth, he hated...
So many, many things.
When he was on his deathbed, Pei Lingyao clutched his hand and wept with such sincerity. He truly wanted to ask if this woman had ever loved him at all.
But to keep this life from ending with him as a complete laughingstock, he never asked, not even as he died.
Unexpectedly, he got another chance at life, returning to the year he was young and his families were arranging his marriage to Pei Lingyao.
Since Heaven had given him a chance to choose again, then he...
Would still marry her first.
*
After decades of marriage, Pei Lingyao never understood why her husband, Shang Chu, always looked at her so coldly.
Did he dislike her?
But he worked to earn her gold and silver, bought her fine silks and satins, and even secured her a noble title.
Shang Chu was truly hard to figure out. He loved being intimate, but kept a cool expression even as he carried on without stopping, then held her as they slept afterward.
He complained that she was spoiled, troublesome, and noisy, yet insisted she stay right beside him even while he worked.
As if, the moment she was out of sight, she'd go steal chickens or cause trouble.
It made no sense at all.
Still, she had actually lived a pretty good life. If there were a next life...
There was a next life. After her husband died, Pei Lingyao fell asleep alone. When she awoke, she was back in her maiden days.
Her parents were carefully choosing a future husband for her, and asked what kind of man she wanted.
Pei Lingyao thought for a moment.
