Cui Jianwei and Li Qianyao, the current emperor’s third prince, were betrothed in childhood. They grew up together, and for ten years the palace trained her to be a virtuous, refined noblewoman and the perfect wife.
As the wedding approached, she had a strange dream.
In the dream, she married the prince and later rose with him to become Crown Princess and then Empress. Her husband respected her, his concubines feared her, and she seemed to enjoy boundless glory.
But behind all that splendor, Li Qianyao carried on a relationship for more than ten years with his true love from before the wedding, Wu Zhaozhao, who had married another man. They secretly met and had an illegitimate child, while Cui Jianwei was nothing but a decorative prop.
At the end of the dream, Li Qianyao even planned to strip Cui Jianwei of her position as empress for the sake of his true love and their child.
When she woke, Cui Jianwei faced her fiancé, heartbroken. “Your true love is so moving. I’m willing to step aside and bring you together.”
She was done being a decorative prop!
Li and Wu were also moved by her “kindness and generosity.” Their consciences weren’t entirely dead, and they were willing to “compensate” her with a perfect husband: Yuan He, Wu Zhaozhao’s original fiancé, the only son of the chancellor.
Breaking off both engagements was out of the question, but the two couples could marry on the same day and “get into the wrong sedan chairs and marry the right men.”
Afraid Cui Jianwei might change her mind, Li and Wu strongly recommended him: He’s the Yuan gentleman from a noble family, renowned for his talent and as handsome as an immortal, the one even princesses want to marry!
Cui Jianwei’s inner voice: Is he the Yuan gentleman from my dream, the one who was “still a virgin after ten years of marriage, and had a three-year-old son after being away from home for five years”?!
Oh well. She wasn’t asking for love, only a peaceful life. She would make do.
-
The first day after the marriage swap:
Yuan He: Zhaozhao betrayed me! Zixiu betrayed me! Heaven betrayed me!
Yuan He: Only my wife is innocent and pitiable.
Yuan He: I have to treat my wife well!
Cui Jianwei: Whatever makes you happy.
The first year after the marriage swap:
Yuan He: I love my wife, and my wife loves me.
Yuan He: My wife and I are a match made in heaven!
Cui Jianwei: Whatever makes you happy.
The seventh year after the marriage swap:
Yuan He: Marry me again, my wife!!
Cui Jianwei: You... No, this time, I should be the one who’s happy.
- This is neither a purely sweet romance nor a pure wish-fulfillment story. It’s about everyday family life, with no grand ambitions.
[Blurb dated August 26, 2023]
Theme: Live your own life well.
