A Friend's Wife

The Great General Huan Xuan rushed back from a thousand miles away to see his gravely ill close friend one last time.

They had been companions since youth, bound by deep affection.

His friend clasped his hand and said haltingly:

"My betrothed has no one to rely on and is so pitiful. After I die, please take good care of her."

Huan Xuan looked up and saw a woman with snow-white skin and raven hair hidden behind a curtain, her eyes swollen red from crying.

Fu Yunwan had endured a lonely life, and her one stroke of good fortune was having a handsome, virtuous fiancé.

She loved and respected him, longing only to marry him soon and spend their lives together.

But on the eve of their wedding, her fiancé died.

Her fiancé's friend, a fearsome Great General, stood before her, his keen gaze slowly sweeping over her.

Fu Yunwan shivered involuntarily.

To be fair, Huan Xuan treated her very well.

When her family refused to take her in, Huan Xuan personally arranged a place for her to live.

When rumors spread through the capital, Huan Xuan stepped in to put a stop to them.

Fu Yunwan knew she ought to be grateful, but she was afraid of him.

His gaze always seemed ready to look through her clothes and see everything about her.

Fu Yunwan avoided him and would only speak to him from behind a screen.

But after one night, her virtue was gone.

Huan Xuan's iron arms held her tight, leaving her no room to dodge.

"Why are you avoiding me? Whatever he could do, I can do too."

Fu Yunwan cried until her voice was hoarse. Just as she was ready to accept her fate,

her dead fiancé came back to life.

Content warnings:

1. The heroine is weak, but will grow stronger later.

2. Set in a fictionalized Northern and Southern Dynasties period.

3. An eight-year age gap, possessive forced romance, and a love-triangle showdown.

(Weibo: @Di Yi Zhi Miao Ya)

Coming next: Cherry Blossoms in the Fold:

Su Ying has three stepbrothers.

Lu Yuanli is arrogant and overbearing, regarding her as his own possession.

Lu Chongxin is obsessive and gloomy, watching her with ill intent.

Only Pei Ji is noble and radiant, renowned throughout the land.

But the one Su Ying fears most is Pei Ji.

Back then, she followed her mother into the Pei family when her mother remarried, causing Pei Ji's family to fall apart and turning father and son against each other.

Worse, she approached him with an ulterior motive and used him.

Pei Ji never mentions what happened, but she knows he must despise her deeply.

She does not dare to have anything to do with him again.

Until her mother dies, and the only fiancé she can rely on is forced to leave Chang'an.

At the end of a long street, the Lu brothers drive her into a dead end. Fleeing in panic, she stumbles into Pei Ji's carriage.

Su Ying falls to her knees in tears. "Please have mercy on me, Brother."

Pei Ji reaches out to help her up, his expression unreadable as his gaze settles on her swollen lips.

After a long while, he nods.

Years later, after escaping time and again only to fall into Pei Ji's hands once more,

Su Ying finally learns that he engineered her fiancé's departure from the capital and incited the Lu brothers.

He had wanted her for himself all along, and would never let go.

◆

Pei Ji despised his father for being bewitched by beauty, abandoning his first wife, and marrying a second.

Until, in the dim study, the daughter his stepmother had brought with her bent down

and kissed him gently.

Later, Pei Ji went even further than his father.

The author's completed novels:

Scheming for a Wife: the male lead is devoted, the female lead is not; possessive forced romance

The Chancellor's Regrets After Our Divorce: old-school angst and a groveling redemption arc

The Beloved in His Palm: entanglements across three lifetimes; a groveling redemption arc; lovers turned enemies and back again

The Strange Tales of Dongdu: Taoist woman x wealthy libertine; supernatural mystery and suspense

How Could She Resist Her Blade-Like Charm: scheming beauty; lovers turned enemies and back again

After Losing My Memory, I Saved the Person Who Tried to Assassinate Me: a couple with secret identities; mutual healing

Pampered in His Palm: a sweet, delicate beauty in an old-fashioned romance

Theme: All beings suffer. Do not wallow in self-pity; strive for happiness.