After My Ex-Husband's Best Friend Moved In

* The gentle, meek, sweet beauty x the jade-faced hypocrite with a snake's heart

SC | Forced Love | The Crematorium | Dark and Twisted

Her grandmother arranged the match, and Jiang Fuyue married upward into the family of Xue Ji, heir to the Marquis of Anyi.

Xue Ji was handsome and debonair. Like all the noble young ladies, Jiang Fuyue had once looked up to him. But he did not care for her, and before long he chose another woman to become his secondary wife.

Jiang Fuyue died a lonely, desolate death.

When she lived again, she returned to the day of her wedding. Before she had even stepped over the brazier, an urgent report arrived. In a fit of fury, Xue Ji mounted his horse and left the capital to rescue his "distressed" future secondary wife.

As the guests whispered among themselves, a figure stepped through the crowd and steadied her, taking hold of the other end of the red wedding sash.

"Don't be afraid, sister-in-law."

She looked up and met a pair of unfathomable eyes.

Xie Yun, heir to the Prince of Qiyang, was Xue Ji's close friend, and the two called each other brothers. Refined and dignified, with a Buddha's heart beneath his handsome face, he had always kept his distance from romance. He was the dream lover the noble young ladies of the capital scarcely dared to hope for. Yet now he had put on wedding robes to escort his friend's bride.

Jiang Fuyue froze. ...Something seemed very wrong.

-

At the request of his close friend, Xie Yun, heir to the Prince of Qiyang, often visited the marquis's residence and looked after the young marquis's wife, who was left to manage the household alone. He made sure she had warm clothes in the cold and ice in the summer heat, calmly shielding her from every rumor. Even the servants remarked that the once-stern marquis's residence had become much more warm and pleasant. Everyone envied her. Xie Yun truly was the gentleman people praised so highly. What more could a man want than a friend like him?

In private, he knocked on her door late at night and apologized in a gentle voice:

"I was wrong to be so reckless last night, sister-in-law... Are you truly going to ignore me?"

His fingertips, however, idly stroked the red marks beneath her neck.

Jiang Fuyue let out a pained moan, and before she knew it, hot tears streamed down her face. A sigh came from the man's lips beside her ear:

"A soldier is a boor, unable to tell a fish-eye from a pearl. If it were him, I'm afraid he couldn't appreciate you as I do, sister-in-law."

His soft murmuring continued. Jiang Fuyue kept her eyes shut and gripped the bedding tightly with both hands. Whether she heard him clearly, she could not say.

-

Xie Yun had planned for everything throughout his life.

His one unexpected turn of fate was the woman Xue Ji had cast aside like something worthless.

The first time he saw her, she was sheltering from the rain beneath a corridor, motionless as her sisters made things difficult for her. He thought her timid and foolish, with nothing to recommend her beyond her pretty face.

The next time was on her wedding night. He watched the woman speak in a soft, delicate voice, her pale hand clutching her sleeve. She was clearly afraid, yet still worked up the courage to look up at him, forcing her red lips into an awkward smile.

Later... she wore a thin robe and carefully brought him a cup of hot tea. When she noticed him looking at her, her lovely face curved into a sincere smile.

"It's late and the night is cold. Why not go back to your room and enjoy the snow, Third Young Master?"

Xie Yun's throat tightened, and an itch suddenly stirred in his heart.

It was Xue Ji himself who delivered his bride into Xie Yun's arms at the bridal sedan.

They were brothers, after all, so Xie Yun accepted her. He carefully spun his web, believing everything was under his control.

Until the timid, meek woman, who would not even step on an ant, burned down the other residence and vanished without a trace. She dealt him a blow he could not see, but could feel all the same.

Xie Yun stood before the ruins for a long time. For the first time in his life, he tasted regret.

Tip:

1. The male lead is wicked by nature. At first he toys with her, but later pursues his wife and gradually starts dreaming of his past life.

2. The female lead is quiet and honest. She will investigate the truth behind her death.

3. It's all about emotional tension. The second male lead will also fall for the female lead later on.

4. ...More to come.

Theme: Stir up some trouble