Only After Our Arranged Marriage Did I Realize My Husband Was the One I Longed For

I'm not feeling well and my tinnitus is severe, so I won't be writing any bonus chapters for now. Sorry.

[1]

The Qiao family is rich, but the Li family is even richer. The two families hit it off and arranged a marriage contract.

Qiao Xiaomu refuses to go along with it, because she already has someone in her heart.

When she was eighteen, she traveled alone and wandered into a jungle, where she was unlucky enough to breathe in poisonous miasma and temporarily lose her sight.

Just as she was despairing, a man rescued her.

She promised to give herself to him, and he smiled and agreed. But before her sight had recovered, he left. She still fell hopelessly in love with him.

But she couldn't win against the powers that be, and in the end she still married Li Xiyan. Before the wedding, however, she warned him sternly: “I will never fall in love with you. This marriage is just to placate our elders. I'll divorce you in a year.”

At the time, she was still fiercely thinking that if Li Xiyan dared to touch her after they were married, she'd make him regret it!

[2]

On the wedding day, the two families hosted a grand banquet. Qiao Xiaomu accidentally overheard Li Xiyan talking with a friend.

“Fourth Master, didn't you go scout out a jungle a few years ago? Why didn't you develop it?”

Li Xiyan wore gold-rimmed glasses over his high nose. His gaze was calm as he parted his thin lips. “The miasma was too strong. It could cause blindness, so it wasn't suitable for development.” He paused, then added, “It can also make people lose their memories.”

Qiao Xiaomu, who was eavesdropping: “???”

That night, just as Li Xiyan was about to go to bed, someone suddenly knocked on his door.

Qiao Xiaomu stood outside, blushing. Her eyes shone as she looked at him. “Honey, we...”

Bang! Before she could finish, the door slammed shut.

Qiao Xiaomu: “...”

#If you've got the nerve to be mad, you've got the nerve to open the door#

#A quick comeback feels good, and doing it forever feels even better#

#Give me a chance to make it up to you. I promise I'll leave you swooning#

Wish-fulfillment gift shop owner x domineering CEO

Happy puppy x gentle in public, twisted in private

Each other's one and only

*

Recommending a coming-soon historical romance: Actually, It's Just a Sweet Slice-of-Life Story

Blurb:

Yun Mei was once the top assassin of the Qilin Sect. The one thing she never should have done was fall for the new sect leader, Qi Lian.

Qi Lian had cool brows and refined features, and his white robes were as pure as snow. Everyone called him a graceful young gentleman, but he had the coldest and cruelest heart in the world.

To seize power, he deliberately seduced Yun Mei and used her to eliminate the previous sect leader. Then he cast her aside like an old shoe and married someone else, even though he had developed some genuine feelings for her.

Qi Lian ordered his men to pierce Yun Mei's shoulder blades with iron shackles and cripple her martial arts, but he couldn't bring himself to kill her. He imprisoned her in a dungeon and visited her every day.

Fortunately, Yun Mei was rescued by a close friend and eventually escaped from that hell.

To evade the Qilin Sect's pursuit, Yun Mei changed her name and fled to a remote village, where she married a man who sold funerary goods.

His name was Shen Fengmian. He was a refined, elegant, handsome man, with long, pale fingers and a scholarly air. Yet he was exceptionally skilled at making paper effigies, and well known among the funerary-goods shops in the surrounding villages.

Yun Mei settled down there with Shen Fengmian. They cared for and respected each other, and though their life was modest, they were happy.

But Qi Lian still refused to let her go.

One day at noon, Yun Mei carried their daughter to the funerary-goods shop to bring Shen Fengmian lunch. She had just stepped inside when the assassins sent by Qi Lian arrived one after another, one of them thrusting a knife straight at Shen Fengmian's heart.

Yun Mei reacted quickly and shoved Shen Fengmian out of the way, but she fell and hurt herself, frightening their daughter into tears.

Shen Fengmian, usually so refined and gentle, seemed to become someone else in an instant. His face darkened, his eyes turned bloodshot, and killing intent surged from him. He looked like a demon from hell.

The assassins mocked him for his helpless rage and overconfidence. But before their laughter could fade, a flash of dark light appeared. A line of blood opened across their necks, and the next moment, blood sprayed three feet into the air.

Shen Fengmian pressed his bloodstained folding fan to the neck of the only survivor. Cold and ruthless, he spoke one word at a time: “Go back and tell Qi Lian: If you dare come again, the Prince of Jing'an will wipe out the Qilin Sect.”

Yun Mei stared at her husband in shock. A saying long repeated throughout the martial world flashed through her mind

The Qilin Sect is full of little demons, and above the Qilin Sect stands a demon lord.

The only demon lord in the world capable of suppressing the Qilin Sect was a prince of an unconnected royal line who wielded a blackwood fan.

B-but this scholarly husband of hers didn't look at all like someone who knew martial arts!

Shen Fengmian instantly put on his harmless scholar's face again. “This humble scholar is no great talent. My martial arts rank near the bottom of my family, and I was forced to leave home and make paper effigies.”

Yun Mei: “I'll believe that when pigs fly!”

Shen Fengmian: “...”

#All right, my lady, I won't pretend anymore. I'll come clean: I just like making paper effigies#

#But anyone who bullies my wife will have to deal with a paper effigy#

#An idle young prince, providing full-service funeral arrangements#

#Yun Mei: All I can say is that he's born to make paper effigies#

[Retired female assassin who has hung up her sword x a playboy young prince who pretends to be a pig to eat the tiger]

[One-on-one romance, both leads are each other's first and only, marriage before love. An adorable little bundle of joy appears later. The blurb looks complicated, but this is really just a warm, sweet slice-of-life story.]

Theme: Growth is also a process of healing