After Five Years of Widowhood

[Widow vs. Crown Prince + Fake Brother-and-Sister-in-Law + Older Woman/Younger Man + Experienced Woman/Inexperienced Man]

~My next novel, My Husband Is Old-Fashioned but Truly Handsome, is now open for collection. Check my profile to find it. Please add it to your library!~

In the fifth year of Li Yaoniang's widowhood, the clan head brought home a young man named Pei Jue. He said Pei Jue was the long-lost younger brother of her late husband, and asked her to take good care of him and support him from then on.

Li Yaoniang was unwilling at first. Making a living on her own was already difficult enough, and taking in another man would only make things worse.

But when she saw Pei Jue's handsome, refined face, she quickly changed her mind. She would bring him home first, then marry him off into another family in exchange for some money to support her in her old age.

But before Pei Jue could be married off, Li Yaoniang's heart had already begun to waver.

Pei Jue was young and beautiful. His lean waist, the calluses on his fingertips... Every little thing made her heart flutter. She found herself longing for a nourishing spring rain after a long drought, something to soothe the loneliness of her more than a thousand nights of widowhood.

The more she thought about it, the more afraid she became.

Li Yaoniang began deliberately avoiding Pei Jue, not wanting him to discover her shameful thoughts. As a result, she failed to notice that his gaze was gradually filling with curiosity.

Zhao Huai, Crown Prince of the Eastern Palace, was a bright moon high above the altar, too exalted to speak of.

Later, due to an accident, he had no choice but to disguise himself as a man named Pei Jue and conceal his identity for a time.

As a man of lowly status, he had only one relative at home: his widowed sister-in-law, who lived alone.

At their first meeting, Li Yaoniang had a fair, clean face, and an awkward sensuality hidden beneath her coarse clothes.

Li Yaoniang was vulgar and shrewd, and she was always thinking of marrying him off for money. Zhao Huai treated her politely but coldly, even with irritation. He only wanted to wait for his trusted men to find him so they could go their separate ways.

But wherever Li Yaoniang was, her eyes would roam over his hands, even his waist and stomach, filled with a secret, burning desire.

Zhao Huai couldn't imagine Li Yaoniang's loneliness, but those emotions tugged at his cold indifference until it turned into greedy possessiveness. He wanted to give her one perfect night.

He thought it, and so he did it.

Then one mistake led to another.

On countless late nights, he tore away Li Yaoniang's false façade and forced her to face her truest self.

Later, after Zhao Huai's identity was restored, he saw Li Yaoniang looking troubled and thought that if she begged him, he could give her the status of a concubine.

But after a long pause, Li Yaoniang wanted only to call it even.

Only then did Zhao Huai understand: Li Yaoniang had merely been indulging in momentary pleasure. He was the only one who had fallen in love, from beginning to end.

Reading Guide:

1. The woman is three years older. Experienced woman, inexperienced man. Set in a fictional world.

2. Inline comments are enabled. Please leave lots of comments!

3. The full outline and detailed plan are complete. The story's direction is set and won't change.

4. The first blurb was archived on December 5, 2024. The revised version was archived from January 3 to January 13, 2026.

Coming Soon: My Husband Is Old-Fashioned but Truly Handsome. Please add it to your library!

[High-Energy Patriarchal Traditionalist vs. Looks-Obsessed, Easygoing, Delicate Girl]

Yu Xi was born into wealth and had a fiancé who would lift her skirts and wipe her shoes for her. Unless something unexpected happened, she would spend the rest of her life swaddled in luxury.

But the unexpected came without warning.

When Yu Xi saw her fiancé taking his mistress out on a sweet date, she was so enraged she fainted.

After waking, Yu Xi cried and sobbed. She could put aside the fact that she had become a laughingstock among all the young ladies she knew. Her fiancé might be a scumbag, but he was devastatingly handsome. She was afraid she'd never find another fiancé as handsome as him.

Just as Yu Xi was utterly heartbroken and even considering retreating to a life of prayer and solitude, Lu Zhi appeared before her to apologize on behalf of his younger brother.

At the sight of the man's outrageously handsome face, Yu Xi's dead heart sprang back to life.

Her fiancé's older brother was unbelievably gorgeous!

·

Before the age of thirty, Lu Zhi had risen to the Grand Secretariat. A trusted minister of the emperor and head of all officials, he was celebrated as the Jade-Faced Grand Secretary, a man countless people could only look up to from afar.

He had often seen his younger brother Lu Ping shower Yu Xi with every kind of attention and indulgence, and had witnessed Yu Xi smack his brother on the head with storybooks several times.

Later, Lu Ping betrayed Yu Xi, and the marriage between the Lu and Yu families fell to him instead.

On their wedding night, seeing Yu Xi's lovely, bashful face, Lu Zhi explained solemnly that he was busy with official duties and had never wanted to marry. He only hoped that they could treat each other with respect and leave one another in peace...

But before he could finish, Yu Xi struck a pretty pose and beckoned him with a finger: "What are you yammering on about? Hurry up and consummate the marriage."

·

A year into their marriage, Lu Zhi noticed that Yu Xi was gradually becoming less enthusiastic toward him.

He didn't think much of it. After all, other than nighttime pleasure, he had given Yu Xi nothing. If she had grown tired of him, he would simply let her go.

That evening, after leaving the office, Lu Zhi went to bring Yu Xi home, intending to have a proper talk with her.

Then he heard Yu Xi slap the table inside and cry, "I really can't get through to you people! My husband is so handsome, I'd be fine with using the same position for a whole year! I really would!"

Lu Zhi: ...

·

After returning home, Lu Zhi picked up Yu Xi's treasured storybooks for the first time: My Chaste Tutor, The Handsome Taoist of the Deep Mountains, The Flirtatious County Magistrate Who Interrogated Me at Midnight...

The more he read, the darker Lu Zhi's eyes grew.

Before long, Yu Xi returned home. She hadn't even stepped inside when she saw her old-fashioned husband waiting for her with a ruler in hand. "Why are you back so late?"

Yu Xi: ...Wait, something's not right!

That night, Yu Xi became a model student for the first time in her life. All she could say was: Hehe...

Reading Guide:

1. A sweet romance, both leads are sexually inexperienced. The story has been archived.

2. Click to enjoy the old-fashioned, patriarchal hero's descent into depravity (cosplay X).

Theme: Happiness is something you have to fight for yourself~