Marrying My Nemesis (Reborn)

In the fourth year of Yuanfeng, the deposed empress Fu Liao leaped from the Star-Picking Tower in the palace, sending herself off to be reborn without a moment's hesitation.

When she opened her eyes, she was sixteen again, not yet married to Prince Qi, Liang Xianzhuo.

Her father was the Marquis of Wuyang, and her mother was the Lady of Changle. Fu Liao had once been the most treasured young lady in Chang'an. In her previous life, Liang Xianzhuo had personally asked to marry her.

When she married Liang Xianzhuo, he was merely a vassal prince under the emperor's thumb.

She made friends with and curried favor with the noblewomen of Chang'an, enduring their scorn and mockery. She won over powerful clans and passed along intelligence. The entire Fu family gave everything and risked their lives to support him, all so he could ascend the throne.

Before he became emperor, Fu Liao was Liang Xianzhuo's beloved, the young lady he had wanted to marry at first sight. He swore he would never wrong the Fu family.

After he became emperor, Liang Xianzhuo loved someone else, and the entire Fu clan was wiped out.

She had gone from Prince Qi's consort to empress. For eight years, she believed that she and Liang Xianzhuo shared a devoted love and would grow old together.

But long before their wedding, Liang Xianzhuo had secretly pledged himself to someone else. He deceived her with false affection. She and the Fu family were nothing more than pieces in his plot to seize the throne.

Her entire clan was executed, and she was stripped of her title.

She herself was placed under house arrest and made a hostage to keep the rebel Wei Kun in check.

Fu Liao came to her senses and realized that the young Wei Kun was kneeling before her, his face dark and sinister. One of her feet was on his shoulder as she prepared to climb into the carriage.

Her foot slipped, and the young man caught her ankle, settling it back on his shoulder.

Fu Liao shuddered inwardly. No wonder the rebel had succeeded in overthrowing the throne. He had the heart of a wolf and the jaws of a tiger.

Luckily, her father had once done him a favor, and luckily, she was the refined lady he could never have.

This was a heaven-sent opportunity. Of course she had to find a way to climb aboard his pirate ship! Together, they'd bring down Liang Xianzhuo's empire!

Wei Kun was cold, aloof, taciturn, and vicious.

He had long been used to lying low. The only person who noticed him was Fu Liao, who picked fights with him every day.

He had once sworn to himself that when his plans succeeded, he would seize Fu Liao and keep her by his side, tormenting her mercilessly.

But he never imagined that day would come so soon. After someone plotted against Fu Liao, she had no choice but to marry him.

At first, Fu Liao laid down three rules.

They were simply sharing a household. A toad like him shouldn't dream of eating swan meat, and no matter how hard things got, he must never make his wife suffer.

Wei Kun scoffed at this, imagining tens of thousands of ways to torture her.

But later, all the young woman had to do was furrow her brow, leap from a high wall, and throw herself into his arms without hesitation. From then on, none of those punishments were of any use.

Liang Xianzhuo once thought that his relationship with Fu Liao was nothing but mutual pretense, and that she was merely a pawn he could discard and kill whenever she was no longer useful.

That night, with snow falling all around, he watched her gather her skirts and hurry faster and faster, until she was nearly running up the Star-Picking Tower. Ignoring his desperate cries, she leaped from a dizzying height.

At last he regretted everything, but he had been wrong from the very beginning...

Notes:

(1) The leads have a sweet romance that begins with marriage and grows into love. The heroine and the second male lead will not get back together.

(2) One-on-one romance, happy ending!

(3) An alternate-history Han dynasty setting.

---- Please bookmark my upcoming novel, The Foolish Beauty's Guide to Winning a Husband ----

As the legitimate daughter of a marquis, Zhao Ying was charming and beautiful, loved by her parents, and close to her sisters.

All she had to do was turn seventeen and marry her childhood sweetheart, her maternal cousin, as her parents arranged.

The only thing wrong with Zhao Ying's life was that she was a fool.

Until one day, she had a dream.

Before she married her cousin, the marquis's estate was confiscated, though she managed to escape the purge.

Her cousin married someone else.

With nowhere else to turn, she was deceived by him into becoming his concubine.

Her cousin's household was full of wives and concubines, but he treated her well enough.

Later, when her cousin died, his favored concubine was abused by the principal wife and died miserably amid cold snow and a dying lamp.

Not long after, just as in her dream, Zhao Ying was about to be sent away from the estate. Her mother wept as she gave her a large sum of money and told her not to return to the marquis's residence for the time being.

Only then did Zhao Ying realize that her dream was real! She had to stay away from her cousin and find a way to survive before the estate was confiscated.

After looking around, Zhao Ying set her sights on the impoverished scholar Yan Xuechen. With her mother's help, she moved in next door to him.

In her dream, Yan Xuechen had become a high-ranking official and confiscated her cousin and his wife's estate, avenging her.

On a sunny day after the spring snow had melted, Zhao Ying tiptoed past the poor scholar's door. Just then, she saw him come out carrying a stack of books. Blushing, she awkwardly tossed her handkerchief toward him, afraid he might not take it.

To her surprise, he opened one hand and let the handkerchief land neatly in his palm.

Yan Xuechen was the legitimate son of a prominent Jiangnan family. He had concealed his identity to come to the capital for the exams, never expecting a delicate young lady to move in next door.

Every day, the young lady swayed past his door with her slender waist, sneaking glances into his home with eyes full of spring waters.

When she flew a kite, it got caught in a tree he had planted. When she played shuttlecock, it landed in his courtyard. Then she would timidly come to his door to ask for it back, not daring to look him in the eye.

The young lady was a little foolish, and thought he couldn't see what she was up to.

He was merely waiting for the rabbit to run into the tree stump.

One-on-one romance, both leads are virgins, happy ending.

Theme: After all the waves have passed, hold fast to your original intentions.