The Treacherous Official's Long-Suffering Wife

[Official Jinjiang version] Also known as The Chancellor's Hard Times: All He Needs Is Someone by His Side. Preorder: Big Cousin, You've Fallen for Me. V publication date: 7/31

(A beautiful, down-to-earth wife who is reborn first, has no grand ambitions, and just wants an ordinary life X a treacherous chancellor who is reborn later, has terminal lovesickness, and isn't afraid to kneel on a washboard)

Jiang Chunyue ate coarse food and endured hardship alongside Cheng Yuzhang, but she died less than four years after he placed second in the imperial examinations. After her death, her soul took up residence in an inkstone in General Gu's study. She heard that her husband later became a powerful minister who held sway over the court. Many called him a treacherous official and hated him to the bone.

The more Jiang Chunyue heard, the more relieved she was that she'd died early.

Before she could enjoy that thought, she was reborn, back in the days when her future husband was down on his luck.

She glanced at the young man in shabby clothes in the ramshackle little house. Jiang Chunyue decided she wouldn't cater to him so much anymore. She would live well, then remarry and find herself a sweet young man. An ordinary life would be enough.

Afraid her treacherous ex-husband might take revenge someday, Jiang Chunyue didn't dare get too brazen.

She simply hid her silver, secretly ate her fill outside, then came home and ate coarse food alongside her treacherous ex-husband.

She moved most of the wild greens in her bowl into his, putting on the air of a virtuous wife. "You still have your studies to think about, husband. Please eat more. It doesn't matter if I go hungry..."

At the lowest point in his life, Cheng Yuzhang was set up and married Jiang Chunyue, whose reputation was poor. After marrying her, he discovered she wasn't the domineering woman people claimed she was. She had endured many hardships with him and was very considerate. He was deeply moved and thought that if he ever achieved success, he would do everything he could to treat her well.

One day, he was in the courtyard outside when he heard the neighbor's wife talking to his own.

"Young Master Cheng is wonderful in every way, except he's a little poor. You've suffered following him."

"Thank you for your concern, Auntie. If I really were suffering, I wouldn't need you to tell me. I have two hands and two feet. I can run away on my own."

Cheng Yuzhang felt conflicted.

With the autumn examinations approaching, Cheng Yuzhang held his wife's hand anxiously and voiced his deepest worry. "Wife, you'll wait for me to come back, won't you?"

Jiang Chunyue had finally reached the end of her ordeal. Unable to hide her joy, she burst into tears. "I'll wait for you to come home, husband. If you don't come back, I'll smash my head against a stone pillar outside."

Seeing her cry so pitifully and make such a dire promise, Cheng Yuzhang felt reassured. She would wait for him to come back.

After placing third in the palace examination and enduring countless hardships, Cheng Yuzhang finally made his way home, only to hear two pieces of news:

He had died in the capital.

His wife was going to remarry.

Cheng Yuzhang wiped the mud from his face, his dark eyes filled with menace. Hah. Even a dog wouldn't go this far.

[Reading Guide]

1. Both leads are virgins.

2. A lighthearted story, possibly ridiculous.

3. The female lead isn't a strong, independent heroine, and being reborn doesn't change that.

4. The male lead loved only the female lead in both his past and present lives. He isn't a villain.

Please add my preorder to your collection! Big Cousin, You've Fallen for Me. Blurb:

A scheming concubine-born daughter who appears innocent X a young heir who seems otherworldly but is actually simplehearted

Su Niaoniao had low status, and her birth mother had a bad reputation. She was the least favored concubine-born daughter in the family and suffered abuse at the hands of her siblings. On the day she came of age, she heard that her family planned to send her to become the second wife of an older man whose previous wives had all died. Her little face went deathly pale, and she did everything she could to get aboard the boat taking her legitimate elder sister to the capital.

Her elder sister warned her sternly, "If you don't want me to throw you into the sea as fish food, then when we get to the Duke's estate, you will stay in your room. You're not to see our eldest cousin. As soon as we get back, you'll be sent to that old man as his second wife!"

The Duke's heir, Xie Yun, was a young genius, as refreshing as the breeze and bright as the moon. He was one of the finest young gentlemen in the capital and the dream husband of countless noble young ladies.

She was as far beneath him as mud was beneath clouds. They had no connection whatsoever.

By chance, Su Niaoniao saw her legitimate elder sister putting on an act in front of their eldest cousin. An idea came to her: if she could just get close to Xie Yun, maybe she wouldn't be bullied anymore or have to become that old man's second wife.

Su Niaoniao put her plan into action.

Using her innocent, heartbreakingly pretty looks, she successfully won her eldest cousin's affection. Then she took advantage of the opportunity to gain free access to his courtyard.

He gave her pretty clothes and jewelry, stood up for her, and even taught her to write. Things just kept getting better.

One day, while practicing calligraphy, Niaoniao looked up at his smooth, chaste chin. "I think my writing is good enough already, eldest cousin. You don't need to teach me anymore."

Xie Yun kept holding her small, soft, pale hand as he wrote, his expression stern. "If you show writing like this to people, don't tell them I taught you. You're nowhere near good enough."

Su Niaoniao pouted. She wasn't taking the imperial examinations, so why did her writing have to look so good? Suddenly, an excited thought came to her:

Yes, you're the one who's fallen for me, eldest cousin.

Su Niaoniao decided the time was right and boldly asked, "Eldest cousin, will you kiss me?"

Xie Yun was taken aback, then smiled as if nothing had happened. "Niaoniao, don't tease me."

His expression grew a little cool. "My wife will be the Duchess's heir's wife, and she should be from a family of equal standing. Niaoniao, I only dote on you as a younger sister."

She bit her lip, utterly dejected.

She'd mistaken his feelings. Now she couldn't even become his concubine.

Su Niaoniao stopped following Xie Yun around all day.

Xie Yun felt nothing in particular about it, until he happened to pass the rockery in the garden and saw his little cousin asking his second younger brother, her face flushed, "Second cousin, will you marry me?"

Xie Yun couldn't make sense of what he was feeling. He fled in a daze.

The second time he caught her meeting his younger brother in secret, Xie Yun waited until his brother left, then pulled Su Niaoniao into a secluded spot behind the rockery. He held her tightly around the waist and kissed her fiercely, his eyes red.

"I can learn how to kiss you, and I can marry you too. Please don't go to anyone else."

Message: Women who stand on their own and respect themselves, rather than relying too heavily on men, may find unexpected rewards.