The Charming Beauty's Marriage Swap

A Yu, born a libertine, transmigrates into the body of the timid, insecure second daughter of the Minister of Rites. She's a hapless girl whose elder half-sister framed her and stole her wedding, leaving her betrothed to someone else. She's not only falsely accused of having a venereal disease, but also framed and drugged with an aphrodisiac, trapped in a room with an unrelated man, barely conscious.

Looking at the elegant, noble son of the Grand Princess before her, A Yu closes her eyes and carries on.

Since they've already accused her of being debauched, she might as well live up to it :)

Her reputation is in ruins, but A Yu is having the time of her life.

Her father and stepmother help her half-sister steal her wedding? Fine. She secretly supports a concubine and schemes to gain a foothold in the household, leaving the Minister's residence in chaos. Her parents shake their heads and sigh whenever her name comes up, afraid to provoke her or even go near her.

Her mother-in-law wants to make her suffer? Fine. She cuts a small gash in her finger, frightening her infection-fearing mother-in-law into stumbling backward. She never asks A Yu to pay her respects again.

The Grand Princess's son says she's ill-mannered and doesn't know the rules? Fine. Don't come pestering her after she's married. He gets drunk and spends the night outside the Duke of Zhenguo's residence, still murmuring her name as people carry him home.

She simply stands there, and one, two, three men come looking for her of their own accord. They vie for the beauty's smile, jealous and competing with one another, while she just sits nearby and smiles now and then.

Who is she smiling at? Her husband in name only, the man who has never once joined in any of those jealous rivalries.

The heir of the Duke of Zhenguo's household: a heaven-blessed prodigy, peerlessly handsome, and so cold-hearted he seems almost devoid of feeling.

He has a marriage arranged for him, nothing more than a family decision. His fiancée's reputation is in tatters, and her wantonness is known throughout the capital. Whether she's licentious or proper, what difference does it make whom he marries?

Then this extraordinarily beautiful wife marries into his family. She stands before him, calm and composed, her smile gentle, as if all those rumors were nothing but idle gossip. He gives her a casual glance and thinks she's far too conspicuous, far too much of a femme fatale. So when she smiles at someone else, he walks away without a care.

Later, he catches her nominal elder brother massaging her ankle. She leans against a cushioned chair, her skirt slightly raised to reveal a stretch of snowy-white leg. Her brother's touch is intimate, his fingertips lingering.

That white ankle burns itself into his mind. That night, he dreams of that flash of white, and of his own hand covering it, behaving even more boldly than her brother's. He caresses it as if it were a priceless piece of jade.

He wakes from the dream drenched in sweat.

Later still, at night, he runs his fingertips over the fading red mark on her neck, stroking it ever so slowly. His voice is cold and low. "A Yu, who left this?"

Gradually, the people who once tangled with her either disappear, fall silent, or no longer dare mention a word. And he holds her in his arms beneath the cover of night, his chin resting on her head, his voice hoarse with barely restrained madness. "A Yu, from now on, those eyes of yours are only allowed to look at me."

From then on, her tenderness is no longer something he seeks elsewhere.

It is his prison, and he willingly stays by her side, never to leave again.

A willing man takes the bait x a wanton beauty with no heart

*All the male characters are virgins, and the male lead has no unrequited love from the past.

Theme: Learning empathy and love as we grow.