Words for Every Year (Reborn Twice)

In her previous life, Sang Ci had grown up wandering outside her family home. She was uneducated, unloved by her parents, disliked by her relatives, and always a nuisance to everyone around her.

Only during the years she was sent to Prince Regent Lu Tinghe as compensation did she get to experience being cherished and protected in someone's palm.

The prince regent was cruel and brutal, a mass murderer and a madman consumed by hatred. Yet with her alone, he was as gentle as water, giving her the stars when she asked for the moon.

Sang Ci had never been loved like that before. She grew greedy for his affection, lost herself in it, and lived in constant unease, knowing it all stemmed from the fact that she looked exactly like her elder sister, Sang Ning.

She had pretended to be the woman he loved and deceived him into giving her all his devotion.

Before she could confess everything, Lu Tinghe died young.

Even on his deathbed, he remembered to leave a will giving her all his power and wealth, so she could live a life of safety and privilege amid the chaos.

When she opened her eyes again, Sang Ci had returned to the age of fifteen.

-

The Lu family collapsed overnight, nearly losing everything.

Lu Tinghe fell from the heights of power into the mud. With his wedding approaching, the Sang family switched brides on him. The original bride, Sang Ning, was beautiful, talented, cultured, and courteous. The replacement, Sang Ci, was timid and dull, and couldn't even read.

Lu Tinghe had looked down on the third young lady of the Sang family, who had grown up away from home, ever since they were children. He scorned her and rejected the match time and again, but in the end, by some twist of fate, he married her.

On their wedding night, the bride lifted her own veil and told him he didn't have to fulfill his duties as a husband. She was willing to sleep separately.

Lu Tinghe let out a long breath of relief and settled down on the couch in the outer room. He closed his eyes, only to dream of red candles flickering and a fragrant scent filling the room.

His gaze was tender as water. He held his dull, uninteresting bride in his arms, their cheeks and temples pressed together for a long time. He gazed dreamily at her reddened eyes, and the scene became a hazy, dreamlike Jiangnan rainscape...

-

In this life, no matter how much Lu Tinghe initially looked down on her, Sang Ci accepted it all and was determined to marry into the Lu family, solely to help him restore his family's fortunes.

In this life, all she wished was for him to live a long life and obtain everything he wanted, including her elder sister, who had originally been meant for him.

But when she had finally accomplished her goal and was ready to bow out, she secretly switched identities with Sang Ning to set everything right again, then prepared to leave the capital with a contented heart.

The next morning, she awoke to find her hands and feet bound, back in Lu Tinghe's room.

The man gazed at her, dark and turbulent emotion roiling in his eyes. “My wife, are you abandoning me? Where are you going?”

Sang Ci went deathly pale and stammered an explanation that everything she had done had been out of pure goodwill, to help him get what he wanted.

Lu Tinghe's eyes darkened further. He raised a hand and pinched her cheek, letting out a long sigh. “You don't really think I failed to recognize you in my previous life, do you?”

--

(A straightforward sweetheart who was timid in her previous life but charges boldly ahead in this one & a seemingly composed but secretly scheming and suspicious villain)

Reader's guide: 1. Both leads are reborn. The heroine is reborn at the start, and the hero gradually regains his memories.

2. Both leads are sexually inexperienced, and it ends happily. They are faithful to each other in body and heart.

The next novel, "A Marriage of Convenience Reborn", is coming soon. If you're interested, please add it to your reading list. I'll start it once I finish this one!

The people they each loved fell in love at first sight and married happily.

Yan Heng and Zhu Qing'an were left heartbroken, and under pressure from their families to marry, they reluctantly became a couple.

For twenty years, they treated each other with courtesy. Then Yan Heng became incurably ill.

She had thought she would soon die, but she never expected the usually cold and indifferent Zhu Qing'an to spend his entire fortune trying to treat her, all so she could have five more years. He took her away from the confines of the household, and they traveled all over the world together.

As she lay dying, she leaned against his chest and smiled, telling him she had no regrets in this life.

Zhu Qing'an's eyes reddened. He clutched her hand tightly but said nothing for a long time.

Yan Heng knew he was the best husband in the world.

Her only regret was that she wasn't the bride he had wanted.

--

When she opened her eyes again, Yan Heng had returned to the age of fifteen.

When her childhood sweetheart fell in love with someone else at first sight, she immediately sought out that woman's cousin and proposed an alliance.

Zhu Qing'an's eyes were still as unfathomable as ever. He stared at her for a long while, then quietly said, “All right.”

Yan Heng thought that with her help, they could both get what they wanted in this life.

Yet somehow, an unseen hand appeared to set everything back on its original course.

They had agreed to break up the other couple, but every scheme Yan Heng carefully devised ended in failure.

She couldn't understand it. She kept thinking she was simply too stupid and that her plans weren't clever enough.

Until one day, she decided on a ruthless move: she would make Zhu Qing'an sleep with her cousin.

To make sure nothing went wrong this time, she stayed hidden nearby to keep watch, only to accidentally see Zhu Qing'an secretly switch the suspicious cup of wine while she wasn't looking.

Then, when the two of them were alone in a room, he handed that cup to her.

--

“The day she died in my previous life, she was peaceful. She said she had no regrets.”

“But I did. I want to start over with her.”

Theme: Say it out loud when you're in love!