Reborn with the Cousin I Had Wronged

[Complete Novel V-Notice: This novel will enter V on August 29. Chapters 24-98 are the V chapters. If you've already read them, please don't buy them again. Thank you for all your support so far, and please keep supporting my new stories!]

[Straightforward, dazzling beauty x aloof, warm-hearted noble flower]

[A sweetie who loves herself most, but can love dogs too x a love-struck man who only loves his wife, and can't live without her]

As the eldest son of the Qin family, the foremost clan in Jingyang, Qin An was handsome, pure of heart, and as bright as moonlight. Gifted and renowned throughout the capital for his beauty, he was held back from the imperial examinations by a chronic illness.

The year Qin An's condition greatly improved, a bewitchingly beautiful and delicate cousin came to stay with his family.

She gracefully curtsied to him. With her fragrant skin and jade-like bones, she called him sweetly, coy and charming: "Cousin."

One day, he overheard the elders in his family say that a branch of the clan had once made a verbal betrothal arrangement with the young lady.

That night, he dreamed of the bewitching girl in a vivid red wedding gown, softly calling his name.

He awoke in a start, secretly regretting his thoughts, and suppressed his restless feelings as he set off to take the examinations.

After making a name for himself in the capital by placing first, he intended to marry her as the top scholar.

Instead, he received the news that she was marrying his second younger brother.

Beneath the candlelight, the man in his top scholar's robes walked step by step toward the woman in her wedding dress. She was beautiful, but looked startled to see him. His voice was hoarse, as if murmuring in a carefree dream:

"Didn't you promise to marry me?"

"How did you end up marrying my second brother?"

Qin An's cool gaze met her frightened one. He gave a soft laugh.

"The wedding banquet is so lively tonight. I don't mind letting my second brother take my place at the ceremony with you."

"But..."

"I'll be the one to join you in the bridal chamber."

*

After her family fell into decline, Chi Lan traveled north with her mother and sought refuge with the Qin family, who had once done them a great kindness.

Chi Lan dreamed that she rose to power by using Qin An's family as a stepping stone for the sake of influence and a scoundrel of a man. Later, the scoundrel abandoned her, Qin An imprisoned her, and she ultimately died because of the scoundrel.

Wanting to live a long life, Chi Lan decided to cling to Qin An, the future powerhouse, until she found a reliable protector. She would stay away from that scoundrel and change the course of her miserable life.

But her cousin was deep and inscrutable, and she feared he might remember his past life.

Giving up on a difficult-to-cling-to protector, Chi Lan settled for marrying the Second Young Master Qin, to whom she had a verbal betrothal.

On her wedding night, the person who arrived was not her new protector, but Qin An, who should have been in the capital.

There was nowhere for her to run.

*

A little scene:

Qin An, with all his memories returned, cornered her.

His cool fingertips brushed her cheek as he looked down at her wary gaze.

"Do you hate me that much?"

Chi Lan trembled, pressing against his chest as he steadily closed in. The vivid red hurt her eyes, and she pressed her hand to her own neck.

"Want to die?" he murmured, pinning her down and biting the tip of her ear.

He took the blade from her hand and knelt before her, his eyes filled with undisguised, surging madness and love.

"You still haven't repaid me for what you did in your past life. How dare you die just like that?"

Reader's Guide:

[Important: Please read]

The author recommends buying one chapter at a time. If it's not to your taste, stop reading in time. [The writing is imperfect, so subscribe with care.]

Neither lead is perfect. The heroine appears delicate and harmless, but is actually a black-hearted beauty. She has her own schemes, her own cruelty, and her own kindness. Readers who are extremely devoted to any particular character type may want to avoid this.

The cousins are not blood-related. Both leads are sexually inexperienced. They have a five-year age gap and are both reborn, but their memories of their past life are incomplete.

The heroine's decision to marry the hero's younger brother has its reasons. The reason in the blurb is not the only one.

The author is writing with abandon. This is a slow, understated, old-fashioned melodramatic romance with a mix of sweetness and angst.

The fictional dynasty is relatively open-minded about relations between men and women. This is a mash-up of fictional settings with no content warnings, so proceed with caution if that bothers you.

[Important] Plot developments and character motivations are determined by what best advances the romance. Please don't overanalyze them. [Important]

*Everyone has their own preferences. Please don't disparage what you don't like. I hope you all find stories you love and never run out of things to read!

-- Coming Soon --

"The Deposed Empress Was Actually the Mage's White Moonlight". My dears, please add it to your favorites! Pretty please! >3<

A girl who seems obedient x a dashing young man

In her past life, Ming Shu was sent to live with others as a child, then given to the Third Prince, Xiao Lin, as a pawn in a political marriage. She thought she had married a good man, unaware that the man beside her loved someone else.

She abandoned her fantasies and cautiously struggled to survive. But after a lifetime of exhausting herself, she died miserably in the cold palace.

After her death, her burial was delayed. Xie Xuanjing, the Grand Tutor whom she had regarded as a thorn in her side, went mad overnight. He stole her coffin, killed the consorts who had harmed her, and seized the throne from the emperor who had mistreated her.

*

Reborn, Ming Shu was once again an orphan of the Ming family, living a modest but carefree life.

Determined not to repeat her past, Ming Shu acted first and cut off the tragedy at its source. When her adoptive mother from her past life came to visit, she deliberately ruined her own looks and avoided disaster.

But Xie Xuanjing, the powerful official who had been her sworn enemy in her past life, saw everything.

Xie Xuanjing narrowed his flirtatious eyes and said ambiguously, "The Ming family's little sister is truly ruthless."

*

In his youth, Xie Xuanjing was unruly and arrogant about his talents.

One careless remark brought disaster upon his entire clan. The men were exiled, and the women were made slaves.

When he was treated with contempt and kicked while down, the young lady he had once teased secretly slipped him a bag of money and valuables.

Later, after the new emperor ascended the throne and declared a general amnesty, Xie Xuanjing, who had taken the tonsure, planned to spend the rest of his life as a Buddhist monk, seeking redemption for his sins.

The new emperor invited him to serve the court and expand the empire's borders.

Ming Shu, a fellow townsman, became the one to persuade him. The refusal that had been on his lips turned into an acceptance.

Xie Xuanjing had planned to watch over her happiness from outside the mortal world, but he never expected her to die miserably in the imperial harem.

The love he could never confess broke its banks, and he repaid those who had hurt her many times over.

"I wanted to watch over you from beyond the mortal world, but a world without you is so dull, so wretched."

Premise: Love yourself before you love another.