Fleeing an Arranged Marriage by Imperial Decree

[My neighboring novel, Stealing My Younger Brother's Wife, is now open for reading. Visit my author page to add it to your collection!]

(1)

Her father is a great general who guards the nation, and her mother is a princess of Danyang.

From the moment Mu Yunyue was born, she was the brightest jewel in the capital. If all went as expected, she would become the next empress, with endless riches and honor ahead of her.

But then she met Lou Zhixu.

The young man burned as brightly as the sun. When she was twelve, he single-handedly rescued her from an enemy camp, and his light shone on her for years afterward.

For his sake, Mu Yunyue fell out with her family and used her dowry to pay his debts and pave his way to success.

When his life hung by a thread, she even risked her life to steal medicine from the palace, earning the emperor's wrath.

But after he achieved fame and success, all Mu Yunyue received from him was a cup of poisoned wine, a divorce letter, and the cold, resolute sight of him protecting her younger sister while pointing a sword at her.

"Don't use those years against me. I never made you suffer alongside me."

He looked down at her as if she were an ant.

Only then did Mu Yunyue finally understand how ridiculous her life had been.

When she opened her eyes again, Mu Yunyue had returned to the age of seventeen.

She was still the powerful eldest daughter of the Ruyang Marquis's household, while Lou Zhixu was merely a junior officer under her father's command.

With one foot already in the grave, he had to kneel before her in desperation and beg for her protection.

Everyone thought she would once again defy her parents and offend the emperor for this nobody.

Mu Yunyue simply stepped on his hand and ground her heel down indifferently. "What kind of bug is this? Disgusting."

(2)

Mu Yunyue knew she had once been betrothed to the man who sat upon the throne.

But she also knew her place: the two of them were worlds apart.

She had already offended him many times for Lou Zhixu. There was no chance between them.

She hoped for nothing more.

After ending things with Lou Zhixu, she bought a quiet residence in the suburbs of the capital and settled into a peaceful life of her own. It was simple, but happy.

The only thing that bothered her was that the man who had recently moved in next door was a little strange. Otherwise, she truly had nothing to complain about.

If she had any regret, it was that she still didn't know who the man was who, in her previous life, had risked his life to rescue her from a sea of flames as she lay dying from poison, then given her his own heart's blood to force another year of life into her.

Until one day, Lou Zhixu came to her door, trying to break the agreement to end their engagement.

His bloodshot gaze locked onto her, like that of a trapped beast fighting for its life. "Tell me! What other man are you hiding in your heart?!"

Mu Yunyue couldn't free herself from his grip. Just as she thought he would ruin her life again, an imperial decree suddenly arrived from her neighbor's home.

Everyone stood frozen like clay statues, but Wei Changgeng merely lifted his foot at an unhurried pace, planted it on Lou Zhixu's face, and ground it in. "Who did you say was the other man?"

★ Both leads have no prior partners. One couple, no harem.

★ Both leads are reborn. Exes face their comeuppance.

(Original blurb: 2022.4.8; revised version: 7.1)

Blurb for Stealing My Younger Brother's Wife:

★ First-time relationships, brothers vying for her | Marriage before love

★ Gentle beauty x aloof, devout Buddhist flower at first, then a dark, twisted male ghost

Wen Songyi had an excellent match.

His name was Li Congxin. He came from a marquis's household, had a lively temperament, and often stood up for her and backed her up. In the desolate days of her boudoir, he was an undying sun.

But somehow, after they married, his temperament changed completely. He stopped talking and paying attention to her, and at night he even insisted on sleeping in a separate bed.

After considerable effort, she finally managed to thaw this iceberg and consummate their marriage, thinking their life together was finally going to improve.

Then one day, on a stormy night,

she woke to the thunder and thought, in her daze, that she heard her husband calling for her in a voice of utter anguish.

She hurried out of bed to look for him.

She saw "Li Congxin" walking calmly in from the corridor, carrying nothing but the dampness of the rainy night.

She hurried after him and asked, "What's wrong?"

He simply held her and comforted her gently, as he always did. "It's nothing. A thief broke into the house, but it's taken care of. Don't be afraid, Mimi."

His hand, still stained with fresh blood, quietly disappeared into his sleeve.

In his hand, he clutched the seal bearing his younger brother "Li Congxin's" name. It still held the warmth of the owner from whom it had just been forcibly taken, but the scent of bodhi incense on him completely concealed it.

*

Li Congjia was born into a family of generals. He joined the army at thirteen, took command at seventeen, and at eighteen broke the allied forces at the border. He was named General Who Guards the Nation, with a brilliant future beyond measure.

But at twenty, he knelt on a temple cushion, wanting only to become a monk.

Only after his mother pleaded with him again and again did he put off his ordination and return home, where he pretended to be his missing twin brother and married in his stead.

It was simply to repay the marquis's household for raising him all these years. He didn't think he would fall for her. Once his younger brother returned, everything would go back to normal.

But some people seem destined to be his undoing.

She hadn't done anything in particular. She only brought him meals and waited for him to come home. Yet he couldn't help thinking of her, couldn't help longing for her. In his midnight dreams, all he saw was her smiling eyes, her slender hand hooked around his sleeve, and the gentle, lilting calls of "husband"...

Anyone who covets his brother's wife will fall into Avici Hell forever, never to be reborn.

Theme: Be brave and speak your love aloud.