Your Lordship Has Three Thousand Ailments

Coming soon: After I Was Widowed, I Kept a Lover. Blurb below, please add it to your favorites!

Novel blurb

A bride who only wants to be a widow x a scheming heir who unmasks himself and pursues his wife after marriage

Qing Wu spent seventeen lonely years growing up in the Shen household's inner quarters. Refusing to let others control her life, she made a bold decision: she would take another woman's place and marry the frail heir who was not long for this world.

Then, quite by accident, she heard the emperor's decree: when the heir died, she would be buried with him!

To stay alive, Qing Wu took meticulous care of her sickly husband, looking after every detail of his daily life.

She hoped that, in return for her devoted care, he might ask the emperor to spare her from being buried with him.

She even carefully planned how she would live once she was widowed.

But then came a shocking turn of events. The two of them were ambushed by bandits while traveling. At the critical moment, her frail husband appeared with a long sword in hand, blood on his clothes, and shielded her. In just a few swift moves, he slaughtered every last bandit.

Qing Wu was dumbfounded. What happened to his frail health? What happened to him being on the verge of death?

*

Gu Ze'an had been sent to the enemy kingdom as a hostage at the age of six. Upon returning to the capital, he was granted a marriage by imperial decree.

He accepted without a fuss, thinking it would simply mean one more mouth to feed in his household. He could keep her in comfort, and that would be that.

But his new wife seemed to care a great deal about him, tending to him as if he were a porcelain doll.

The loneliness of more than a decade slowly gave way to the warmth of her daily company and care, until it blazed into passion.

Then, when bandits attacked and a blade was about to strike her, he drew his sword and shielded her tightly.

But after that, her attentive care vanished. Gu Ze'an thought it over for a long time before finally understanding the key to the matter.

So he lay down on the bed and said, "Quick, fetch my wife. I think I've fallen ill."

Servant: ...

Qing Wu looked at the man on the bed, who seemed to be in excellent spirits. "What are you sick with today?"

"A headache."

Qing Wu turned to leave, but he pushed his luck and spent the night in her room.

"What are you sick with today?"

"My leg hurts."

Qing Wu simply had a wheelchair made and had him wheeled out.

The next time she saw him, he was lying on her bed again. "Today..."

Before he could finish, he pulled her into his arms, placed her hand over his heart, and looked at her with tender eyes. "Today, I'm lovesick."

Reading guide:

1. Fantasy setting, no need to scrutinize the historical details.

2. Marriage first, love later; the hero pursues his wife after marriage.

3. One-on-one romance, both leads are each other's first and only partner, and they save each other.

Coming soon

Song Xunyu had been engaged to Shen Yue, heir to the Marquis of Jing'an, since childhood. On their wedding day, the enemy kingdom invaded, and Shen Yue received an order to head to the border and repel them. He did not even have time to lift her veil.

A month later, word arrived that Shen Yue had died in battle. To comfort the families of the fallen soldiers, the emperor granted Song Xunyu a noble title, a thousand taels of gold, and a hundred mu of fertile farmland.

With the Shen family having lost its pillar, Song Xunyu, as the eldest son's wife, took charge of the household inside and out. But her mother-in-law was unkind, her younger brothers-in-law's wives fought for power, and everyone wanted to take a piece of her. She exhausted herself managing the Shen family for three years, only to die from overwork.

Reborn, Song Xunyu decided she would no longer put up with such misery. Her mother-in-law disliked her, so she granted her wish and moved to another residence. Her sister-in-law coveted control of the household, so Song Xunyu let her have the mess.

With no more worries to occupy her, Song Xunyu lived quite happily in her home, with her money safely in hand. She was only a little lonely.

One day, Song Xunyu went on an outing and met a gentleman along the way. He was handsome and refined, like a fine jade. Her heart stirred, but as a widow, she was still constrained by convention.

Later, a family moved into the neighboring house, which had long stood empty. It was the very gentleman she had met that day. Surely this was a chance sent by the Bodhisattva. How could she let it slip by? Song Xunyu set aside her inhibitions and pretended their meeting was a coincidence.

She flirted with him several times, but he remained unmoved.

Dispirited, Song Xunyu took an aged wine into the courtyard to drown her sorrows. Halfway through the bottle, she accidentally broke her cup and nearly fell when her legs gave way.

Then the gentleman leapt down from the wall and caught her in his arms. Dizzy with wine and desire, she held out her cup to his lips.

"There are ten measures of beauty in the world, and you alone possess eight. It would be a shame for no one to appreciate such beauty. Why not come with me, sir? One day, I promise I'll give you a proper title."

She had been drunk when she said it, but the gentleman, who had been as cold as frost and snow just days before, curled his lips into a smile and said, "All right."

Much later, when their affair was exposed, Song Xunyu was shocked to discover that the lover she'd been entangled with day and night was none other than her husband, who was supposed to have died in battle. It turned out he had his own ulterior motives, too.

Furious, Song Xunyu thought he had been playing with her all along. She immediately packed her trunks and prepared to leave, but he held her by the waist and drew her into his arms, gently kissing her ear. "You promised me a title, and you haven't given me one yet. Are you abandoning me already?"

Song Xunyu's hair was in disarray. She spat at him. "The world has ten measures of shamelessness, and you alone possess seven!"

Theme: Even in the depths of misery, you can pluck the stars with your bare hands.