Better to Keep a Widow Than Fight for Favor at Home

[Entering VIP on Saturday, March 30]

Her mother was dead, and her father never cared for her. Even though Ruan Zhao had transmigrated here, she had no choice but to keep her head down.

She endured until she was seventeen, when her stepmother could hardly wait to marry her off as an old man's second wife, or throw her to a nephew from her mother's family to abuse.

Just then, people from the Marquis of Qiyang's household came to propose marriage.

Rather than let her stepmother spitefully marry her off to a miserable life, she decided to take a big gamble. After all, she knew the heir to the Marquis of Qiyang would not live more than two years, and he was a notorious playboy in the book.

She had never dreamed of spending her life with one person. All she wanted was to borrow his help to have a child, then rely on the marquis's household and live happily as a widow who did nothing but eat and wait to die.

It was a lovely plan, except, what happened to the promised playboy? He acted as if even touching her might kill him. How was she supposed to borrow him to have a child?

--

After returning from an assignment for the emperor, Xiao Ci learned that his family had arranged a marriage for him. He heard that the Ruan girl was so plain she could hardly be called a beauty, and was vicious to boot.

But when he met her, Xiao Ci discovered that he liked this sort of woman: sweet, delicate, and weak.

After spending more time with her, Xiao Ci realized that her sweetness and frailty were just an act. He became increasingly suspicious of her identity.

What Xiao Ci regretted most was rejecting his new wife when she wanted nothing more than to share his bed. Later, when she no longer wanted him, he had to chase after her, begging and coaxing her.

--

A little scene

To improve her prospects, Ruan Zhao had once made an effort. While staying with her maternal family, she took a liking to a young scholar and dangled some bait.

By the time the Marquis of Qiyang's household proposed, she had completely forgotten that fish. After all, he had never promised to marry her.

Only later did she meet the fifth young master of the marquis's household, who had been away on a scholarly tour. He was exactly like the fish she had once baited.

The fifth young master looked at her with wounded eyes. "Zhaozhao, why didn't you wait for me?"

Xiao Ci put an arm around her waist and smiled without warmth. "My wife, you and my fifth brother are old acquaintances?"

Ruan Zhao: ... Help.

Coming soon: The Yun Family's Third Daughter. Please add it to your collection!

The third daughter of the Yun family died of illness, and the family wanted to send another young woman to take her place as wife to her husband and mother to her children.

Yun Xi was one of the candidates. She had seen how the third daughter lived in her husband's household and had no desire to get involved.

After much thought, she made a red-bean knot and planned to give it to a close friend of her brother's, a fellow student.

But the red-bean knot ended up in the hands of the fellow student's older brother, who accepted it and agreed to propose marriage.

Yun Xi had always longed for the kind of marriage where spouses shared books and music, living in harmony and affection.

She happily awaited her wedding, only to discover after entering her husband's household that she had mistaken one brother for the other. The younger brother was a scholar, but the older brother was the ruthless demon she feared most.

Yun Xi was so afraid of him that she barely dared leave her room. Then, while delivering another red-bean knot, she accidentally ran right into him.

--

Xue Shao was being pressured to meet a young woman. His mother even told him to wear his younger brother's clothes, saying he would look more presentable that way and the girl would be less afraid of him.

Before he even met the young woman, a coward bumped into him and handed him a red-bean knot, asking him to propose marriage.

Xue Shao knew how afraid Yun Jiuniang was of him. She had seen him catch murderers several times, and every time they met, the young woman turned deathly pale and trembled with fear.

With a nerve like that, she actually dared to say she admired him.

He didn't believe her nonsense. After looking into it, he discovered that Yun Jiuniang had mistaken him for his cousin.

Faced with the choice of making her someone else's second wife or marrying her himself and making her his cousin's sister-in-law, Xue Shao decisively married her.

Keeping her in his own room was the safest option. Otherwise, he would never be rid of those dreams that haunted him night after night.

Coming soon: My Mother-in-Law Is a Master of Keeping Everyone Happy. Please add it to your collection!

Zhao Xian transmigrated into two novels by the same author. The novels were companion stories, one angsty and one sweet.

The angsty novel told the story of the Jiang family's eldest son and his wife: misunderstandings, false accusations, miscarriage, heart's blood being cut out, and one heartbreaking ordeal after another, followed by a desperate attempt to win his wife back.

The sweet novel was about the Jiang family's younger son and his wife, a pair of bickering but devoted lovers whose romance was sweet and mutual.

The author had a habit of following a novel that left readers emotionally devastated with a sweet one as a reward, making readers love and hate them in equal measure.

Zhao Xian was one of those readers who had suffered through the author's books, but now she had transmigrated into them.

The good news was that she hadn't become the heroine of the angsty novel. The bad news was that she wasn't the heroine of the sweet one, either.

She was the mother-in-law of both heroines, Madam Jiang Zhao.

Theme: Love is mutual and accepting, and it must be carefully tended.