Has the Duke Died in Battle?

Gu Wanqing transmigrates as the daughter of a merchant family, with no memory of her past life.

At fifteen, her beauty catches the eye of the old marquis, who tries to force her to become his concubine. To protect herself, she asks to marry the Duke of Zhenguo. Little does she know that he is a sanctimonious wife-beater. Fortunately, before they can consummate the marriage, he receives an imperial order to go to war.

Three years later, the Duke of Zhenguo returns home victorious.

Gu Wanqing pretends to be sick and makes poisonous incense to avoid sharing a bed with him, only to discover that her husband seems wary of her too. He sleeps properly and peacefully, never crossing the line. She, on the other hand, is a restless sleeper, and always wakes with one leg draped over his waist.

He has two sides to him: sometimes dull, sometimes shrewd. He keeps a cold face around others, but is gentle yet distant with her.

When she takes control of decision-making in the Duke's household, he says, "Whatever the matter, my wife can decide."

When she wants the title of Lady of the Imperial Order, he says, "Come with me to the palace to meet His Majesty."

He agrees to everything she decides.

He is more and more like a good man.

When the household's adviser returns after recovering from an illness, the moment Gu Wanqing sees him, all her memories of her past life come rushing back. She was a well-educated modern woman, and in her previous life, after transmigrating, she trusted a man too easily and met a tragic end.

Trusting men will cost you years of your life.

Drawing on her memories of her past life, Gu Wanqing sets a trap that sends her enemy to the executioner's block, then packs her things and fakes her death to escape. The Duke of Zhenguo comes after her. His usually indifferent eyes are full of wounded reproach as he says, "Madam Gu, you've got the wrong man!"

The Crown Prince, Li Junyao, is poisoned and becomes a sickly invalid. With his days numbered, the other princes force him to the frontier to oversee the fighting.

He takes an arrow for the Duke of Zhenguo. When he opens his eyes again, he has become the duke.

His body is strong and sturdy, and his wife is beautiful and virtuous.

A gentleman does not covet another man's wife.

He restrains himself and observes propriety, struggling night after night against the natural physical reactions of a healthy man. The woman is timid by day and bold by night. She is the one who can't behave herself, yet she puts a poison in his food that leaves him impotent.

She has all sorts of little schemes.

He likes her more and more.

He no longer wants to be a gentleman. He puts on his finest clothes and waits for her, but she never comes back...

[Bonus Scene]

Whenever Gu Wanqing sees the Duke of Zhenguo, she remembers the lashes she endured on their wedding night. Even with a different person beneath that face, she cannot shake her hatred.

Later, when she is trapped in danger, Li Junyao, wearing the Duke of Zhenguo's face, shields her, covered in blood. Half-dead, he murmurs against her shoulder, "If you don't like this body, then it's just as well if it gets destroyed."

[Reading Guide]: The heroine grows over time. Before awakening, she is rather timid, but clever and quick-witted. After awakening, she takes the world by storm. The hero's soul transmigrates into the villain's body, and he ends up with the heroine in that body. If that bothers you, please give this one a pass.

Theme: Beneath the same face, only a sincere and unblemished soul can make love endure.