Reborn as the Beloved of My Substitute Husband

[This was written years ago and has many shortcomings. I strongly recommend my newly completed novel, A Match Made in Misfortune, a sweet rebirth story about a pampered princess × a fierce, formidable general. The blurb is below ✪ω✪] Blurb: Yun Sang happily married into the Marquis of Xuanping's household. Only after the wedding did she learn that the man who'd exchanged vows with her was a stand-in, and her real husband was gravely ill. Taking pity on her ailing husband, she spent a fortune seeking doctors and cared for him day and night. After years of toil, she finally found a miracle doctor who cured his chronic illness, only to be killed by a hidden arrow from her husband. When she opened her eyes again, she had returned to shortly after learning the truth. She looked coldly at the sickly, hypocritical man in bed. She wouldn't care for him anymore. Instead, she turned and threw herself into the arms of her "stand-in husband." * Qi Yu was born into a lowly station. As someone forced to stand in for another man, he could never show his true face, and all his outstanding talents were credited to someone else. He knew full well that the lovely young girl in the blazing-red wedding dress was not his wife. Yet he never expected that, after enduring scornful looks and cruel taunts, he would hear the girl call him "husband" in her sweet, timid voice. Later, he regained his identity, and all his wealth and honor returned. The cold, ruthless emperor who showed no warmth in public was tender and indulgent with her. The first thing he did after ascending the throne was to appoint her empress. ***Blurb for A Match Made in Misfortune: After an accident, the much-adored Princess Zhaoning died alone in the freezing river. To her dying day, she regretted missing her childhood friend, the top scholar. Only after death did she learn that the man who rushed to the river upon hearing the news and plunged into the icy water to search for her body for three days and nights was her rough-edged husband, the one she'd been married to for years but could barely stand. The childhood friend she'd never been able to forget was the mastermind behind the accident. Zhaoning was so furious her soul nearly scattered. When she opened her eyes again, she found herself back in the first year of her marriage. She had just had a huge fight with her husband over her childhood friend and slapped him. The already tall, ferocious man glared at her, face dark as thunder, looming over her like a mountain. He looked ready to unleash a storm. In her previous life, Zhaoning angrily summoned the guards to shove him away, then ran off to complain to her childhood friend. That was when their marriage began to fall apart. In this life, she looked at her cold, silent husband, her nose stinging. She tried and tried to hold back her tears, but one still fell with a soft plip. The man's fury suddenly vanished. He stood frozen for a long moment, unable to utter a single harsh word. * Lu Sui, heir to the Marquis of Dingyuan, was favored by heaven, a martial arts prodigy who made his name in a battle on the border. Power, status, and prestige all came easily to him. Only one thing had always eluded him: the woman he'd cherished for years, who avoided him like a snake and hated him like a beast. From beginning to end, she was beyond his reach. Lately, though, things had grown increasingly strange... The princess who should have insulted and humiliated him at every turn, who couldn't stand even to look at him, had actually sent him ointment and coyly asked him to join her for dinner. He'd only cut his arm while drilling troops, yet she was so worried she cried. On a stormy night filled with thunder and lightning, she clung to his finger and called him her husband, pleading, "Don't go..." Faced with this sudden affection from the woman he loved, Young Master Lu put aside his suspicions and accepted it all. But after their lovemaking, as he gazed at the princess nestled against his arm, his eyes grew dark and he couldn't help wondering: Could that wretched man outside have taught her some new trick to use against him? Zhaoning: ...?! I only wanted to treat my husband a little better!! **CP: A delicate, frail princess × a ferocious general with an eight-pack and absurd martial prowess (actually a dark, possessive, clingy romantic). A sweet romance focused on the relationship. I think it's made a lot of progress since Stand-in Husband! It's much better too! Theme: Someone loves every part of you, no matter your status, worth, good or bad, or beauty.