Marrying My Cousin's Uncle

[Upcoming novel for the folks who love melodrama: Scheming to Be Your Husband. A gentle, proper beauty from a scholarly family x a calculating, secretly in-love younger uncle x a jade-like deceased husband who was her first love. Blurb at the end.]

Blurb for this novel (it's finished; any later updates are for proofreading and editing)

The Duke of Tang's household falls into ruin overnight, leaving Fourth Miss Tang homeless. Fortunately, she has been betrothed to Song Yan since childhood, giving her a place to stay.

But Song Yan can't stand his fiancée. She's timid and meek, and all he wants is to break off their engagement.

Yet only a few days after doing so, he hears that Tang Yin has a new marriage arranged. On the day she accepts the betrothal gifts, the young woman wears a red dress that trails along the ground, alluring and radiant.

A woman of such beauty is a rare sight indeed.

Song Yan regrets his decision.

Unable to sleep, he knocks on Tang Yin's door, heartbroken. "Yin'er, I have something to tell you."

But when the door opens, his young uncle stands there with his hands behind his back and says coolly, "Why are you looking for your aunt?"

*

Song Xin is as elegant as an orchid and as graceful as a tree. He's the top scholar personally selected by the emperor, and the pride of the Song family. Unfortunately, he's too aloof and indifferent. Even though matchmakers have worn a path to the Song family gates, he remains unmarried.

The more this is so, the more people wonder what kind of woman a transcendent figure like Song Xin will marry.

No one knows that his distant gaze has long since turned passionate whenever it falls on Tang Yin.

He keeps his feelings buried, careful and tentative.

Only after Tang Yin's engagement is called off does the usually cool and reserved Song Xin lift the hem of his robe and kneel before his father. "The Tang and Song families have been close for generations. The engagement must not be broken. I am willing to marry Fourth Miss Tang."

*

Beneath the red gauze curtains, the night air is cool.

Tang Yin is grateful and respectfully says, "Thank you, Cousin Uncle."

But the man shakes his head and lifts her chin with a folding fan. "Wife."

Tang Yin slowly raises her head and falls into a pair of gentle eyes.

After her family falls from grace, she lives at the Song household in constant fear, only to have her cousin break off their engagement.

On the day their engagement ends, a heavy rain falls, soaking the letter asking for money to treat her seriously ill mother.

Song Xin opens an oil-paper umbrella over her head, and offers her shelter from the storm as well.

A cool and reserved top scholar x a pampered Fourth Miss

[The cousin faces a painful reckoning; the uncle has been secretly in love. Both leads are virgins. Blurb captured on July 21, 2022.]

The author is inexperienced and has limited ability, so please forgive any shortcomings. If it doesn't suit you, please stop reading. Other authors on Jinjiang are also trading their hair for stories. There's always one you'll love, and I've seen all your kind words~

Melodrama divider

Blurb for the upcoming novel Scheming to Be Your Husband:

A gentle, proper beauty from a scholarly family x a calculating, secretly in-love younger uncle x a jade-like deceased husband who was her first love

Beneath a flowering tree, Shen Rong'an stifles a cough as he tucks a begonia into his beloved wife's hair.

"My Wan Ning is so beautiful that even the Western Mansion begonias pale in comparison."

Mu Wan Ning lowers her eyes with a shy smile, her beauty as pure as the moon. A sudden, sharp crack of a dry branch makes her flinch.

The begonia falls to the ground. Shen Rong'an turns his head, but sees nothing but darkness.

He gently brushes a strand of hair from her face and says softly, "Don't be afraid. There's no one here."

Beneath the dark night, unseen behind the shadowed moon gate, Shen Xiu Jin's knuckles are clenched until they turn blue.

·

Mu Wan Ning and Shen Rong'an are childhood sweethearts, already betrothed. Once they come of age, they naturally marry. Afterward, they treat each other with respect and affection.

Sadly, not long after their wedding, a winter illness claims Shen Rong'an's life. Chang'an loses a refined young gentleman, elegant as bamboo.

Unlike Shen Rong'an, another son of the Shen family is cold and unfeeling by nature, with no talent for romance. He holds a high-ranking position as the Prefect of the Capital, yet all these years he has never had a woman by his side to care for him.

Mu Wan Ning is a little afraid of him, but she remembers her late husband's words and knows she should treat his younger uncle well.

"Xiu Jin, it's raining these days. Remember to wear your cloak."

"Xiu Jin, I made the peach blossom pastries you like."

"Xiu Jin, if you keep frowning, you'll scare the girls away. How will you ever win a woman's heart?"

At this, the usually stern younger uncle raises his eyes and actually smiles at her. "I understand, sister-in-law."

·

Shen Xiu Jin doesn't want to win any woman's heart. He only wants the sincere affection of his sister-in-law.

The moment Mu Wan Ning loses her husband, Shen Xiu Jin's feelings turn into something else.

Knowing his sister-in-law has no intention of marrying again, he uses every means at his disposal, all in a scheme to become her husband.

Theme: Opportunity favors those who are prepared.