After the Rebirth of the Deceased First Wife

The blurbs for the upcoming novels The Princess Is Troubled Today and Betrothed to My Nemesis are at the end!

Blurb:

Dead drunk, He Qiniang falls into an old dream from her past life.

The blind village girl who brewed wine. The first wife abandoned in a little courtyard by her childhood sweetheart and husband. The lowly thing whose life was worthless in the eyes of noblewomen. The woman who died in the wilderness, carrying two lives. All of them were her, He Wenhua.

The name her father had carefully chosen, the "Wenhua" whispered in tender intimacy, linked to the pain that pierced her heart. Waking from her deep dream, He Qiniang wiped the tears from her face and pressed a hand to her flat belly... From now on, she would simply be He Qiniang.

If she could brew the strongest liquor in the world, why should she get entangled with that kind of man again, now that she had another chance at life?

On her journey home to find her father, He Qiniang meets again the man who helped her so much in her previous life. Day by day, they grow closer and more familiar.

Having escaped the old dream, she quietly gives her heart to him, drawn step by step to Fang Yanqing. But by chance, she discovers secrets that someone has deliberately concealed.

In response to her questions, Fang Yanqing leaves behind the wooden hairpin her childhood sweetheart carved for her by hand, and departs without a word.

They meet again when a new prefect arrives in this border city. The man has the same surname as her childhood sweetheart, Xu Yu.

Only then does He Qiniang finally understand: the "Fang Yanqing" she trusted for two lifetimes had even lied about his name.

After learning that her childhood sweetheart died long ago, He Qiniang chooses to let go of the past and call herself Xu Yu's widow. She will no longer try to get close to someone she should stay away from, nor does she want to investigate what heart-devouring truth might still be hidden in that old dream of a vanished past.

But the bastard who has deceived her time and again catches her by the wrist and pins her against the table.

Just as he did when they slept with their necks entwined in their previous life, he takes her hand, dips it in wine, and writes four characters, stroke by stroke.

"You and I were once entwined in passion. Wenhua, you should call me husband, just as you did in the past."

Reader's guide:

Both leads are virgins. Monogamous pairing across both lifetimes. There are misunderstandings. The male lead won't be replaced.

The male lead has a secret identity. See the main story for details. Poor childhood sweetheart dies young in both lifetimes. That's right, it's the same dog both times.

Not a strong female lead, just an ordinary girl. (With my intelligence, I couldn't write a truly strong one. Sighs at the sky.) Alternate Tang-inspired setting. Historical nitpicking not recommended.

First wife means first wife. Why use this term? Personal preference. Please don't overthink it.

--- Upcoming novel: The Princess Is Troubled Today ---

With one quick kip-up, the tousle-haired little princess drags her quilt behind the desk, grabs a split-tipped brush, and wets it with her mouth.

That night, the little princess, whom everyone considers a good-for-nothing, stays up late writing by lamplight.

As dawn breaks, Jiang Yaozhi sits crouched on her chair, brush between her teeth, staring blankly at the mess of ink in front of her.

According to what she saw in her dream, when her Crown Prince brother went south to Jiangnan, he met a dazzling beauty. No, a huge white lotus! He couldn't control himself, concealed his identity, and began an affair with the woman.

Her brother brought the white lotus back to the palace and made her a junior consort.

After that, the Eastern Palace put on a spectacular drama: "The junior consort cries, and the lady of the first rank suffers; the junior consort flees, and the lady of the second rank is demoted; the junior consort smiles, and the Crown Princess is left to die of sorrow."

And then that junior consort actually becomes the new Crown Princess and spends the rest of her life as the only wife of her Crown Prince brother?!!

Jiang Yaozhi grinds her teeth in rage, biting the brush until its bristles splay and her lips turn black. Oh, right, she hasn't washed the brush yet!

He dares to bully his Crown Princess and commit such a shameless act. Does her brother think their father and mother are already dead?

As she plans how to put a bug in her father's ear about her brother, her eyes land on another name.

Huo Yunji, her Crown Princess sister-in-law's younger brother, her nemesis, and the "villainous ringleader" in the drama, who breaks off his engagement to her after his sister dies young and becomes the Crown Prince's sworn enemy.

It's true she already wanted to break off her engagement to him, but he's her childhood sweetheart!

She's not like her brother, who turns around and betrays his childhood sweetheart without a second thought.

She has to help Huo Yunji get even!

Rubbing her chin, Jiang Yaozhi dashes out of the palace and stops Huo Yunji, who sits in armor atop a tall horse.

"Aji, do you like white lotuses?"

Ever since he was a child, Huo Yunji has known that for the sake of the Northern Jiang troops, his elder sister would become the Crown Princess, and he would become the consort of Princess Liancheng.

He takes her little hand and watches over her until she comes of age, yet still thinks that he feels nothing for her beyond a duty he cannot refuse.

Until the day she looks up at him beneath the warm winter sun, his reflection in her eyes, and asks him:

"Aji, do you like lotus flowers?"

In that instant, his heart leaps...

--- Upcoming novel: Betrothed to My Nemesis ---

Huan Lingzi, daughter of the Grand Princess, is beautiful and graceful, a brilliant pearl of the Eastern Capital.

Yet her lovely eyes turn only toward her sickly cousin, Prince Rui.

Until one day, at a palace banquet, Prince Rui chooses the Imperial Tutor's youngest legitimate daughter as his princess consort. Only then does Huan Lingzi give up hope.

She shuts herself away to enjoy some peace and quiet, lamenting that her plan to become a young widow has finally fallen through.

But barely half a month later, her nemesis Di Xi rides across the river from the far north with an army of cavalry, dressed in armor, and declares that he has come to marry Huan Lingzi, to whom he is betrothed.

He produces the token her father gave him after drinking, the one that supposedly promised her hand in marriage. Huan Lingzi grits her teeth.

Before she can think of a way to make Di Xi back down, Prince Rui reappears, claiming she is the only one he loves.

Her attempt to flee is blocked. Huan Lingzi glances at Di Xi, utterly exasperated.

"I like men who are graceful and refined, but you're born with brute strength. I like men who are modest and benevolent, but you're deceitful and vindictive. I like men with faces as handsome as jade, but you..."

All right, she can't fault Di Xi's looks...

But Huan Lingzi simply doesn't like Di Xi!

She's disliked him since they were children. Even when he once gave her the pony she loved most, she still couldn't stand him!

Huan Lingzi is still fuming, but Di Xi folds his arms and looks toward Prince Rui, who is doggedly following them, speaking with mocking amusement.

"Oh? You don't think I'm good enough and don't want to marry me. Then who are you planning to marry? Him?"

She glances behind her, silently cursing her bad luck, then coldly bows in the direction of the palace.

"I only wish to ask permission to become a Daoist nun, cultivate the Way, and pray for our dynasty's prosperity and enduring fortune!"

When Huan Lingzi was still in the north, the thing Di Xi feared most was that brat puffing out her cheeks, tugging at his sleeve, tears in her eyes, but saying nothing.

After she returns to the Eastern Capital with the Grand Princess, who has divorced her husband, the thing Di Xi fears most is that the brat will actually be foolish enough to marry that damned cousin of hers.

After finally coaxing her into his home, what he fears most becomes the day her maid comes to deliver a message, saying that his wife plans to spend some time at a Daoist temple...

Theme: Women should strive to be self-reliant and never give up.