The Second Year After She Died

Cen Wang did not love his wife.

Before she was married, Sang Luo was notorious in the capital for being sharp-tongued, petty, and unable to tolerate anyone. She was exactly the kind of woman Cen Wang disliked most. Unfortunately, their betrothal bound them together, and he had to marry her whether he loved her or not.

After the wedding, Cen Wang carried on with his debauched life as a playboy. Even when Sang Luo endured endless ridicule, he only watched with cold indifference.

He said, "This is what you deserve."

But after marrying, Sang Luo seemed like a different person. She was dutiful to her parents-in-law, managed the household, and kept the entire prince's estate running smoothly.

His disreputable friends said she was only acting to secure her position as the heir's wife, putting on a show to fool him.

Cen Wang thought they were right.

Three months into their marriage, Cen Wang still had not consummated it with Sang Luo. One day, she stopped him and offered to take concubines for him.

Cen Wang thought, Let's see how long she can keep pretending to be virtuous. So he picked two maids. The very next day, Sang Luo had everything arranged.

And so Cen Wang spent every night in revelry with his two beautiful concubines, doting on them without restraint and showing no regard for his wife.

People said he favored his concubines and neglected his wife. Cen Wang laughed nonchalantly and said, "Sang Luo is so unappealing that it's impossible to like her. How could I dote on her?"

In the ninth month of their marriage, Sang Luo fell to her death from a cliff while on an outing. The Princess of Yan, who had always liked her, efficiently handled the funeral without shedding a single tear.

But Cen Wang realized that he kind of missed Sang Luo.

The year after Sang Luo died, Cen Wang was dressed in mourning clothes when he saw her placing a flower in a scholar's hair by the riverside. The scholar called her A Luo, a degree of intimacy the two of them had never shared.

Cen Wang's eyes turned blood-red. The scholar asked Sang Luo curiously who he was. Sang Luo took the man's arm, smiled, and shook her head. "He's got the wrong person."

#Only in the second year after her death did I learn that she had never loved me#

P.S. You may not believe it, but the heroine is not a virgin while the hero is. Don't ask. The author can make it work.

The male and female leads have a whole basket of misunderstandings between them.

Because my rebirth tag was removed from the trending list last week, let me make this clear: this is a double-rebirth story.

The male lead in this novel is a virgin. It's entirely and only because the author likes putting chastity belts on men. No matter how the male lead is characterized, he's always a virgin. (In case anyone doesn't understand, let me reiterate: whatever you think of this, as far as I'm concerned, if a man isn't a virgin, he's out. He will absolutely never be considered as a male lead. This is the basic selection criterion, not some ridiculous reward.) As for the heroine, that's up to her. Sometimes I even decide by drawing lots.

Here are some examples from my previous books. In The Mermaid, the male lead is a virgin; I forget about the heroine. In Derailment, the male lead was born on a chaotic, desolate planet and worked as a bouncer in a nightclub, yet he was still a virgin. The heroine hadn't thought about it before she transmigrated, and the body she transmigrated into wasn't one either. She later dumped the male lead and married the second male lead. In the Alpha Male and Omega Female story, the male lead is an Alpha with a rut, but even in his thirties he's still a virgin because he's waiting for the heroine, who may never come back. The blurb for Raising You says outright that the heroine isn't a virgin but the hero is. In Taking a Wife, the male lead is powerful and influential, thirty years old, and still a virgin.

So don't distort my views or put some noble label on me. When I make the male lead a virgin, I don't give it a second thought; it's purely instinctive. I delete any comments from people who think they can read my mind and claim I'm a boy-mom or whatever. Don't come back to pester me, acting like you're the victim. I'm the one who has to jump over a brazier in the middle of the night! Who's really the victim here? And don't accuse me of putting chastity belts on people in this day and age. Those comments are ridiculous. So let me say it loud and clear: I'm putting chastity belts on male leads. Let it drive you mad.

My next novel will be Concubine's Love. Please save it to your reading list. Here's the blurb:

Shen Buyan first met Qi Zong at her own elder sister's wedding.

His face was stern, and even his wedding finery couldn't hide the menace surrounding him.

The next time she saw Qi Zong was a year later. She was kneeling on the ground, taking off his boots, while he lifted her chin with a dark gaze.

Afterward, Shen Buyan was made to drink a bowl of contraceptive medicine.

*

Shen Buyan had always understood her place. She was the least valuable daughter of the Shen household, a lowly concubine meant to help her sister keep her husband's favor, and a tool for bearing Qi Zong's children.

Her status was just like her name: she was to keep quiet and fulfill her duty as a tool.

No one knew that whenever she lay prostrate on the ground, her dignity trampled beneath them, she wanted to end it all, because it seemed to be the only way she could escape.

*

Qi Zong had spent years campaigning on the battlefield, earning great honors atop mountains of bones. But when it came to love, he was a complete blockhead.

At first, he simply thought Shen Buyan was easy on the eyes, so he was willing to get close to her.

Later, he pitied her and wanted to protect her.

Later still, he found her adorable and wanted to be with her for all eternity.

But he didn't understand why his girl was kneeling on the ground, begging him to let her go.

As torrential rain poured down, he silently watched Shen Buyan kneeling in the rain. Her slender body shivered as the cold seeped into her, yet her face was deathly pale as she kept striking her head against the ground until it bled. He walked over.

He reached out his hand. Shen Buyan tried to pull away, but he grabbed her wrist and pulled her into his arms.

Her delicate body trembled against him. He leaned toward her soft, pale ear and told her, "Don't even think about it."

Note: Both leads are virgins; marriage before love

Theme: Never give up on yourself.