Is the Grand Secretary Fighting for Favor Today?

* Please click through to my author page and add "How Did the Second Male Lead Turn Evil Again?" to your collection.

Wen Qi, the County Princess of Yong'an, had loved Ji Beilin for ten years. At long last, she married him and became Madam Ji. But Ji Beilin was devoted to politics and paid her no attention. In the end, Wen Qi was burned to ashes by his political enemy.

After being reborn, Wen Qi declared: To hell with Ji Beilin! She's the daughter of a princess. What could she possibly lack? Why give up an entire forest just to hang herself from one tree?

Ji Beilin had always believed Wen Qi loved him. When he was reborn to the time they first met, he was full of confidence, certain Wen Qi would fall in love with him at first sight all over again.

But...

Ji Beilin: Qi Qi, do you like me?

Wen Qi: What nonsense are you talking about, Lord Ji?

In her previous life, whenever Wen Qi had to choose between two things, she chose Ji Beilin.

In this life, whenever she has to choose between two things, she won't choose Ji Beilin.

Ji Beilin: Just you wait. I'll set fire to your whole forest!

This book is also called "Go Ahead and Spend the Rest of Your Life Clinging to That Chief Minister's Position" and "The Chief Minister Still Hasn't Won His Wife Back Today."

* Important warning: The male lead is a jerk, but he won't be replaced. If that's not for you, please click away. The author is ducking out under a pot lid.

Pre-publication: "How Did the Second Male Lead Turn Evil Again?"

The male and female leads lived happily ever after together, and the devoted, gentle second male lead finally got a brief mention of his own happy ending. Readers were satisfied and deeply moved.

But what if the second male lead suddenly turned into a ruthless lunatic and even wanted to kill the main couple?

A game adaptation claiming to faithfully recreate the novel's characters was plagued by severe character distortion and OOC behavior. Original novel fans flooded the comments with complaints until the game went offline for emergency maintenance.

An investigation found that the trouble began after Song Zhou completed the prequel walkthrough mission. The second male lead whose character had gone off the rails was one of the targets assigned to Song Zhou, an employee in the department tasked with "setting tragic, beautiful, powerful second male leads on the right path."

This was a game-program bug left behind by the mission, so Song Zhou had to return to the game and fix it himself.

Song Zhou: Here's the problem. I've completed walkthroughs for hundreds of characters. I can't remember every single one of them.

Song Zhou patiently lectured him: Be kind, be gentle, and follow the plot properly, okay?

The second male lead obediently nodded.

The mission was completed without a hitch. Song Zhou was pleased: So, can I go back now?

The second male lead, gone crazy again: Go ahead and try.

Theme: Past and present lives, always devoted to one another