Startled Sparrow (Reborn)

For eighteen years, Cui Qingyi has followed every rule. Her only act of rebellion comes when her husband, Yan Qing, wants to take his old flame as a concubine. She turns cold and says, "I won't allow it. Not unless we divorce."

Cui Qingyi keeps her promises. Yan Qing owes her a debt of gratitude, as she helped him enter officialdom. When he married her, he promised she would be his only wife. He must never break that vow.

But she underestimates Yan Qing. He keeps his old flame as a mistress, lavishing her with affection. After she bears him a child, Yan Qing forces her into the household as his co-wife.

When Cui Qingyi asks for a divorce, Yan Qing sheds his former gentleness and bluntly tells her that the only way they'll part is through death. He claims she is ill and confines her to the manor.

Cui Qingyi falls gravely ill from grief and anger, bedridden for a long time. In the end, the cup of tea Yan Qing brings her takes her life.

When she opens her eyes again, she is back on the day Yan Qing brings his old flame home.

Cui Qingyi no longer has any hope. She hides her feelings and pretends to go along with things, then chooses to kneel before Xiao Heng, His Highness Prince Jing, the most exalted man in Daye, and beg him... to save her.

-

When Xiao Heng was young and obscure, Cui Qingyi, the younger daughter of the Cui family, once saved him. She caught his eye, yet dared to marry another man.

After countless twists and turns, he thinks of his minister's wife day and night. His desire to possess her has long since become overwhelming.

On a red sandalwood throne, the supremely noble Prince Jing, Xiao Heng, slowly turns the ring on his finger. With a languid expression, he speaks in a calm, unhurried voice: "Second Miss Cui, this isn't how you ask someone for help..."

"This prince... will need some compensation in advance..."

"So that I can let Second Miss put me to use..."

At first, Cui Qingyi nervously approaches. Her hands tremble so badly she can't even untie her sash. Xiao Heng looks down at her coolly. "What is it? Now that you've married, have you even forgotten how to serve someone?"

Later, on countless nights no one knows about, Cui Qingyi's ink-black hair is soaked through as she yields to him in distress, listening as he calls her hoarsely again and again: "Qingyi..."

"Please, don't leave me..."

Cui Qingyi smiles sweetly. "All right."

The night she gets the divorce papers, she runs away.

*

Only when his gentle, soft-spoken wife has vanished from his side does Yan Qing finally panic.

He searches all across Daye but finds no trace of her. Yet by chance, as he encounters Prince Jing's carriage on the road and nervously answers its occupants' taunts...

Yan Qing seems to catch a glimpse inside the carriage of the former wife who divorced him and disappeared, held tightly in Prince Jing's arms...

- The female lead gets together with someone other than the male lead. After being reborn, she starts making plans.

- The second male lead wins her through force and takes the top spot. He's a jerk at first, then becomes utterly devoted. The scumbag's ashes get scattered to the wind.

Theme: Find a way out when all seems lost