After Breaking Off My Engagement to My Cousin

After her parents died of illness, Shang Yunzhu went to live at the Jiang residence, where she grew up alongside her childhood sweetheart and cousin, Jiang Zilin.

Jiang Zilin was not only Shang Yunzhu's cousin, but also her betrothed. Ever since she was little, she had known she would marry him when she grew up.

Her cousin had promised that once she came of age, he would marry her with all due ceremony.

But when Shang Yunzhu turned sixteen, she didn't get a wedding. Instead, she got a cousin who broke his promise.

When the Jiang family fell on hard times, his mother, Madam Shang, had swallowed her pride and begged her brother to arrange the match for her son's future. But fortune turns in its cycles. Her brother and sister-in-law died one after another, and once Jiang Zilin entered officialdom, Madam Shang began to resent her orphaned niece. She wanted to break the engagement and find a more advantageous match, but feared ruining her son's reputation.

So she repeatedly schemed to take Shang Yunzhu's life.

But Jiang Zilin was indecisive. He couldn't bear to give up his future, nor could he let go of his cousin. To put an end to his thoughts of her, Madam Shang turned things over in her mind and devised a vicious plan: ruin Shang Yunzhu's chastity and force her to become a concubine.

Prince Chen, Rong Jue, is the emperor's young uncle. He is peerlessly handsome and holds an exalted position.

Unfortunately, he has kept to himself all these years. The Prince Chen's residence has not only never had a princess consort, it doesn't even have a single concubine. Remembering the late emperor's final request, the current emperor has worried himself gray.

Who could have known that after a trip to Yangzhou, Rong Jue would take an interest in a woman? The emperor is overjoyed and immediately orders an investigation. When the results are presented to him, His Majesty is troubled. "Uncle, this woman is already betrothed. I'm afraid it would be improper."

Rong Jue merely smiles faintly. "Neither of us is married. What's improper about it?"

Rong Jue goes to Yangzhou on official business and unexpectedly saves a young woman. She is gentle and well-mannered, but naive, mistaking wolves for benefactors and falling victim to their schemes time and again. Rong Jue finds her so foolish that he can't help stepping in to solve her problems, doing a good deed each day.

But little by little, kindness becomes habit, and chance encounters become deliberate. When his assignment in Yangzhou comes to an end, Rong Jue finds himself wanting to take her back to Jinling.

So what if she's betrothed? He'll just break off the engagement.

One-on-one sweet romance, the scummy ex gets his comeuppance, and the scheming male lead dotes on his wife.

Theme: Say no to emotional manipulation.