At a spring banquet, Xu Zhiyuan accidentally falls into the water. Her childhood friend and cousin saves the princess instead of her.
Afterward, the emperor arranges her marriage to the heir of the marquis's household, the man who reached out to save her that day.
The good news is that she no longer has to pretend to love her cold-hearted cousin.
The bad news is that the heir she's marrying is her cousin's close friend.
On their wedding night, she shares a bed with her cold-faced husband, yet they seem separated by mountains and seas.
The next day, her husband cites his heavy military duties as an excuse to sleep in his study.
After the customary visit to her family, he heads straight to the capital's military camp and never comes home again.
Life in the marquis's household is a struggle at every turn. Her mother-in-law treats her with cold disdain, while her sisters-in-law hide their knives behind smiles.
Xu Zhiyuan is isolated and helpless. After enduring one hardship after another, she finally manages to establish herself in the household, only for her "good" husband to hand her a divorce agreement.
"Since your heart belongs to Brother Shen, I'll let you go."
In the wavering candlelight, the uniquely noble man before her had never seemed so hateful.
Xu Zhiyuan accepts it with a grateful expression, but inwardly grits her teeth in fury. The next day, she brings him a bowl of love potion and makes him drink it.
Beneath the warm wedding candles, the deed is finally done.
She'd like to see how he plans to drive her away now!
-
His friend's beloved has become his wife. Xie Luoyan doesn't know how to face this marriage.
At first, he only wants to keep his distance.
But the more deliberately he avoids her, the less he can control his gaze from lingering on her.
Only then does he realize that the woman he thought was scheming and deliberately currying favor with his friend is actually a resilient weed, determined to survive even in adversity.
On one side is his friend's downcast expression; on the other, her tender gaze, brimming with autumn waters.
Before he completely loses control, he has no choice but to write that divorce agreement.
"Husband, do you really care that much about my cousin?"
That's what Xu Zhiyuan asks after accepting the divorce agreement.
Xie Luoyan turns his head, unable to answer. Deep down, he knows that what he truly fears is not his friend's disapproval.
He thought they were destined to become strangers, but when he opens his eyes the next day, she's in his arms, their clothes scattered across the room, and nothing left to hide between them.
The terrible mistake has already been made. What should he do now?
Reader's guide:
1. The leads are each other's only partners. The heroine does have physical contact with the second male lead early on. Happy ending.
2. I'm trying to update daily and won't abandon the story.
Childhood friend gets his comeuppance / Former friends fall out / Domestic drama
Check out my upcoming novel next door, Entering My Late Husband's Brother's Dreams
[A wicked woman who seems gentle but is cold and twisted inside x an aloof, proud nobleman who bends for love]
Chu Shuling was born into a life of misery.
Her father abandoned his wife and daughter and married another woman.
Her mother ran away with her lover. On a night of torrential rain, a flood swept them away before Chu Shuling's eyes, leaving no bodies behind.
At eight years old, she set out from Danzhou for the capital to find her father.
She begged for food along the way, suffering from hunger and cold until she nearly died. At last, she collapsed in front of an elegant, luxurious carriage.
Through her fading consciousness, she thought she saw a beautiful, pale hand lift the carriage curtain. The person inside spoke gently, but the words were utterly indifferent.
"Drag her away. There's no need to bother with her."
Chu Shuling hated such coldhearted indifference, but never imagined she would see him again.
The day after she marries into the Pei family in place of her elder sister, who ran away from her wedding, the bamboo curtain outside Jing'an Hall is lifted by another slender hand.
The man steps into the sunlight, his hair bound beneath a jade crown, his white robes flowing like a bright moon.
His gaze passes over everyone in the hall and lands on her. The moment he speaks, she recognizes the voice etched into her heart.
He calls her:
"Sister-in-law."
Countless thoughts surge through her mind at once.
Then, one thought comes into sharp focus.
She will claim this bright moon for herself.
She will make him fall from the heavens and sink into the mud, just like her.
Less than half a year later, her chance arrives.
Her foolish elder sister lures her husband away. The two stage a death and leave the capital.
After the funeral, Chu Shuling happens upon a strange incense.
The incense coils through the air. A few illusory dreams bind her and him together.
Outside the dreams, Pei Xun is the head of the capital's most prestigious family, a jade-like young gentleman of peerless beauty.
But in the dreams, he obediently kneels before her bed.
She looks down at him, casually tracing her finger across his thin lips.
A prodigy, a gentleman?
He's nothing but a dog.
-
Pei Xun, always proper and upright, cannot understand why he keeps having these dreams.
At first, he despises them.
And by extension, he treats Chu Shuling with even greater coldness during the day.
He thinks he should send his widowed sister-in-law far away. That way, he won't have these strange dreams he can't control anymore.
Until, several months later, his supposedly dead younger brother suddenly returns...
Theme: There will always be someone who loves you.
Congratulations on the completion, especially to the lovely couple! Both of them have very cute personalities! Thank you, madam, for cooking [spread flowers][spread flowers][spread flowers]
It's so sweet, just like a young couple in first love [Spreading Flowers]