Virtuous Husband (Matriarchy)

The gentle, capable, charming husband × the cold-faced, hard-hearted, cool general (early on)

The smiling, calculating, scheming husband × the devoted general who puts his husband first (later on)

Xu Lai bumps his head, and when he wakes up, he remembers only the time before he married.

His family tells him: You and your wife are a perfect match, talented and beautiful, and deeply in love.

His in-laws tell him: You're gentle and capable, a master of both the household and the kitchen. The whole family adores you.

Then he discovers a diary about his wife. The day before, she had done his eyebrows for him; the day before that, she had helped him practice his calligraphy. Every entry is filled with his love for her.

So Xu Lai takes their word for it and becomes the virtuous husband everyone says he is.

Until his wife returns from a six-month military campaign and sees him.