The Swapped Lives of Twin Sisters

Dual romance: The ruthless, domineering Grand Marshal / the delicate, gentle young wife

The henpecked, jealous playboy / the ruthless, hard-hearted rose

Part One: First Meeting

Twin sisters separated as children: one grew up in a merchant family, while the other was raised by a secret organization to become an assassin. Years later, when they meet again, one has married into Meiling's wealthiest family to bring good fortune to a sick heir, while the other must head north to the military governor's residence to gather evidence of their crimes.

Both women are unhappy with their lives for different reasons. After learning about each other's troubles, they decide to switch identities...

Luo Yu, military governor of Beijiang, is ruthless, hard-hearted, cold, and suspicious. To the enemy, he is the toughest opponent to deal with. To the imperial court, he is a menace who has long occupied a strategic region and amassed troops under his own command. Plenty of people want him dead, but no one has ever managed it.

One day, he receives a tip and discovers that the young servant at his side looks exactly like an assassin in a portrait. But the servant is so delicate and gentle that she hardly seems like an assassin. He tests her in every way, then finally tears away her disguise and forces her onto the bed. "If you're not an assassin, then from now on, be my woman!"...

The only son of Meiling's wealthiest family, Zuo Zongbao, is nearly twenty, lazy and good for nothing. He has a handsome face but a scandalous reputation. At some point, he also came down with a strange illness and became bedridden. Word around town is that he has a venereal disease. His grandmother has worried herself sick over him, and in the end, with no other choice, she pays a fortune to buy a granddaughter-in-law to bring him good luck.

Hearing that the Wu family's adopted daughter is peerless in beauty, temperament, and talent, Zuo's grandmother pays a fortune to bring her home as her grandson's bride. But after the wedding, they discover that this granddaughter-in-law is nothing like the rumors. She knows nothing of music, chess, calligraphy, or painting. Instead, she's a skilled martial artist who keeps the rebellious young master of the Zuo family thoroughly in line.

One day, a servant reports that the young madam has been meeting a handsome man in secret, using sparring as an excuse, and that the two have even been intimate. Zuo Zongbao flies into a rage and shouts at the bedroom door in a cracking voice, "You're a married woman, yet you meet another man in secret! Do you even remember that I'm your husband? You shameless..."

Before he can finish, Wu Xiyue steps out of the room, one hand clenched into a fist and the other on her hip. She plants herself in the courtyard. "I'm what?"

Zuo Zongbao's voice immediately drops several octaves. He backs away, bracing himself against the wall, sweat beading on his forehead. "You're, you're not, no, no, no, no, no..."

Reader's Guide:

1. Four clean romances.

2. Happy ending, lighthearted and sweet.

3. The novel has three parts. This part covers the first meetings of the two couples. See the author's page for advance notices about parts two and three.

Theme: No life is beyond a comeback