The Thin Horse's Second Marriage

[Female Lead Has Been With Other Men] [Possessive Pursuit]

At the end of her rope, she rescued a poisoned young man in a rainstorm.

In a shabby hut by Taihu Lake, the gentle young man recovered from his injuries. Leaning beside the stove, where wisps of smoke curled into the air, he promised her, "Big Sister, I owe you my life. I'll marry you with the full rites due a principal wife, and protect you for the rest of your life."

She stumbled in alarm and fell into his arms, blushing. Her eyes, dry for many years, grew misty. She had been unable to cry for so long. Her dead, barren heart was like rotten wood sprouting new buds.

So she worked desperately at embroidery to save money, waiting until she had enough to free herself from her "former husband" for good.

The day after she had saved enough silver, the young man vanished, along with the money.

The world was thrown into chaos. She had no time even to grieve. She treated him as a spring dream that would never return, locking it away as the one sweet thing in those absurd, bitter days.

.

Two years later, cavalry trampled the prefecture of Kuaiji. The young man of old, blood dripping from his sword, was invested as Prince of Wu.

Meanwhile, the man she was about to marry was sentenced to death for colluding with the enemy.

In tattered straw sandals, her hair streaked with gray, she waited anxiously outside the government office.

On a snowy night, Yan Haochu rode past. Concealing the shock in his eyes, he sneered maliciously in front of his servants and attendants. "They say a prostitute has no heart and an actor no loyalty. We shared a single performance, and Kuaiji has fallen into such chaos. It takes some nerve to track me down. Go to the accounts office, collect fifty taels, and leave."

He looked down at her from his horse, studying her reaction with amusement, his eyes full of contempt and disdain.

It was still that same peerlessly handsome face, but now he had a bandit's air as he fiddled with his new crossbow. Not a trace remained of the tenderness and sincerity he had shown her back then.

Ruan Ping came to her senses, and her heart was crushed to dust.

Once the illusion was gone, she could no longer tell joy from pain.

.

In the Chonghong Orchid Hall, Yan Haochu dismissed his attendants. His long fingers danced over the new crossbow, its arrowhead occasionally skimming past her as if by accident.

His tone softened a little, but his eyes grew even more mocking. He continued to deceive her. "You could have stayed in peaceful Huzhou Prefecture, yet you made it all the way here. How devoted. Have you registered a household? Shall I give you a little house in the south of the city?"

She slowly knelt on the cold brick floor, her weak bones gathering a steely resolve. "I wouldn't dare accept your money or a house."

The crossbow snapped with a sharp crack. "What, do I have to spell out every ugly thing?" He suppressed a strange restlessness and reached out to help her up.

But she evaded him. "General, you've misunderstood. I came only to clear my husband's name."

.

In the end, he kept her by his side.

After wine had warmed them, on a spring night in the heated chamber,

Yan Haochu pinned her beneath him and ground out through clenched teeth, "A lowborn vixen's body. How many men have touched you? Why am I the only one who can't?"

She pulled out her hairpin and stabbed at him, murmuring, "That's right. Anyone else can. You can't."

P.S. 1. The heroine is a courtesan raised in poverty, in a realistic setting. The ending is guaranteed to be happy, with sweetness hidden among the angst. (I never write male leads with bad character. =-=)

2. The heroine has been with other men; the male lead is a virgin. There's a warm-hearted second male lead.

3. Rotten men will appear as love interests, but only briefly. (At heart, this is a sweet romance. Hiding my head.) The heroine falls first and has only ever loved the male lead.

4. I guarantee the male lead will never physically abuse the heroine. = = After the story goes premium, the male lead will be emotionally at her mercy.

Theme: "Fate is made by people, and blessings are sought for oneself."