Family-Inherited Fear of Wives (Reborn)

[Please add my upcoming novel, The Grand Princess of Jingguo, to your favorites.]

In her previous life, Lu Wanwan chose exile for Ning Yun and endured countless hardships.

She exhausted herself plotting for his sake, yet still ended up dying of sorrow.

Reborn at sixteen, she is still the unloved legitimate daughter of the Lu family, brought back from the countryside.

But no one knows that poison and a blade are hidden behind her docile eyes. She is ready to slaughter every wretch who wronged and betrayed her in her previous life.

In this life, she is radiant with glory, and suitors line up from the capital all the way to Jiangnan.

But she wants none of them. She chooses Xie Huaichen.

Lu Wanwan knows that Xie Huaichen is the legitimate son of the Duke's household, idle all day, fighting crickets and chasing dogs. Everyone in the capital knows he is no good match.

She also knows that he is kind at heart. In her previous life, when she had lost all hope, he was the only one who offered her help.

She likes his gentle heart. She decides to marry him, keep him company, support him, protect him from disaster, and give him peace.

After all, where there's a will, there's a way.

She never expected that he would protect her for the rest of her life.

On the young duke's wedding night.

Father and son were both a little tipsy.

The Duke took the young duke to his study and brought out a secret treasure hidden under the desk.

"I had this made by a craftsman the year your mother and I got married. It's our family's prized household treasure," the Duke explained.

The young duke rubbed his hands excitedly. His father had long promised that he would give him the family heirloom once he got married.

When he opened it, the young duke froze. "That's it?"

The Duke replied with grave seriousness, "That's right. This is our family's treasured household weapon: a golden washboard inlaid with pearls, jade, agate, and coral! It can charge into battle and slay enemies, or defend the home and keep one's wife in line. A must-have weapon for every fine man of the Xie family!"

The young duke: "..."

The Grand Princess of Jingguo

The Grand Princess of Jingguo's husband has died.

Everyone says she is in for a rough time. She isn't of the imperial bloodline, she and the Emperor have grown distant over the past two years, his favor is scant, and she has no children. Who knows how hard life will be for her now?

Someone kindly arranges another marriage for her.

That night, the Emperor barges into her room, smelling of wine. He leans close and says, "Sister, you mustn't marry anyone else. I'll protect you."

In that moment, she sees something in the eyes of this young Emperor, newly come to the throne, that shouldn't be there: a man's possessiveness toward a woman.

Li Huai has never forgotten how, at the age of eight, Prince Qin staged a coup. The rebels killed his father and mother and burned the palace. When he had nowhere left to turn, a lowly palace laundry maid saved him.

She stole steamed buns for him, took beatings, snatched food from refugees, and suffered abuse at the hands of the rebels...

With her frail backbone and slight frame, she escorted him to his maternal grandfather's home in Longxi.

Later, with his grandfather's support, he defeated the rebels and ascended the throne.

He called her "Sister," the name he had used for her while they were in exile, and bestowed upon her the title Grand Princess of Jingguo.

Knowing she liked the Chen family's eldest son, he arranged their marriage.

He had always believed that he honored and respected her because he was a grateful ruler.

Until one night at a banquet, Chen Shutong walked past him with an arm around her waist.

He heard jealousy roar inside him.

He realized that his desire to have her was a man's desire for a woman.

He suppressed the stirrings in his heart and buried his desire deep within.

Two years later, he heard her husband call her "nothing but a used-up woman. What's there to regret?"

The young Emperor flew into a rage. He could not bear to see something he treasured like a jewel discarded like worthless trash.

So he killed her husband.

Content warning: 1. The woman is seven years older than the man. 2. The female lead is not a virgin, but the male lead is. 3. Coercive possessiveness and melodrama.

Theme: To be added