Swallows Return to the Painted Beams

A rakish, shameless playboy with a silver tongue X a marquis's daughter who was a high-ranking official in her past life Shen Huaiyu woke from a nap to find that she had gone from being a powerful female chancellor to a delicate young lady of a marquis's household. She'd also acquired a fiance out of nowhere. And, as luck would have it, she knew him. When they first met as children, Song Linyun held an umbrella in the snow and bent down to frown at her. "You look absolutely hideous when you cry." Their acquaintance had not gotten off to a pleasant start. Everyone in Zizhou knew that although Second Young Master Song was a regular at the city's pleasure houses, unlike the other men who surrounded themselves with women, he had no interest in them at all. He spent his days feeding fish and walking dogs, the very picture of a spoiled young master. He lived amid pleasure, yet took no part in its affairs. No one thought a libertine like him would ever stop for anyone, until... Shen Huaiyu said, "If you go out and take a mistress, I will... poison you to death, you unfaithful cad." "Poison? That's far too lenient." Song Linyun chuckled and continued unhurriedly, "If I ever go out and do anything improper, I should be executed by a thousand cuts and torn apart by five horses." "With a fierce wife like you, I will surely..." "Keep myself pure as jade." Reading guide: SC, 1v1, HE. Content warning: A romance in the guise of a political intrigue story. There isn't much political intrigue, so please don't overanalyze it. The setting is entirely fictional. [Blurb for an upcoming novel] Xie Yuan was born a pampered princess, willful and indulgent, with no one daring to criticize her. Jing Youling, meanwhile, was the very model of a refined and upright young man from a noble family. These two were utterly incompatible, a terrible match from the start. When political upheaval struck and the court was mired in corruption, Jing Youling came with his sword drawn and killed Xie Yuan with his own hands in Zhaoyang Hall. As her eyes grew dim, all she saw was Jing Youling wiping his sword, his expression one of unconcealed disgust. So heartless. - Xie Yuan was given another chance at life. She had no intention of getting involved with Jing Youling again, but then the emperor said with a smile: "A-Yuan is willful, while Youling is so proper. I worry no one will keep A-Yuan in check in the future. Looking at them now, these two children seem made for each other." They had always hated the sight of each other. Xie Yuan thought that even if it were the emperor standing before Jing Youling, he would surely refuse the marriage on the spot and refuse to be swayed. Then she saw the tall, elegant young man standing in the hall. His expression was cool and distant. After a moment of silence, he bowed and said: "Your servant obeys." - At first, beneath the blade, she smiled and said, "I bet that you, my husband, General Jing, can't bring yourself to kill me." Jing Youling sneered at her words, then raised and dropped his sword. Later, amid the turmoil in Wuzhou, Xie Yuan asked word by word, "Why did you save me?" He lowered his eyes to look at her. "Your Highness guessed wrong." "Hmm?" Jing Youling's throat bobbed. His voice came out hoarse. "...I couldn't bear to." Theme: When life is good, make the most of it.