After Spending a Night with My Husband's Shadow Guard

|A pre-release written for the character setup, with the premise revised. The original premise is at the bottom~|CP: Sweet, naive wife x aloof secret guard| Ji Shu is poisoned by a villain and hides in a ruined temple, where she finds a young swordsman she once rescued. In the hazy moonlight, the boy has handsome features and cool, phoenix-shaped eyes. When Ji Shu reaches out with trembling hands to grab his sword, a cold glint suddenly appears in his gaze. “...Let go!” “I... I want to let go too... But someone’s trying to kill me, and I’ll die if they succeed! I saved you, so you have to save me too...” “Otherwise, I’ll report your whereabouts to the authorities!” Using her past kindness as leverage, she resorts to threats and persuasion. The boy hands Ji Shu his sword, and she hides it on herself. At last, she prevents the villain from having their way. When she returns the sword, Ji Shu feels guilty and ashamed, so she leaves a bracelet beside the weakened boy. . Yun Xuan faked his death after being framed by his sworn enemy, but his wife went missing just before he could return home. He sends his most capable spy, Xi Zhu, to search for her. The young man travels to Jiangnan and comes back empty-handed, growing ever more aloof and taciturn. From time to time, he even stares blankly at a jade bracelet. One day, Yun Xuan recognizes the bracelet and asks in surprise, “Who does this belong to?” Xi Zhu pauses, then a cold gleam appears in his eyes. He looks as if the bracelet were his lifelong nemesis. In his ears, he hears that soft, trembling voice, weak and sweet as water: “Something doesn’t seem right.” “I still feel awful. Please...” “I-I’m sorry for the offense... Take this bracelet as compensation. I’m leaving.” Yun Xuan takes the bracelet from his hand and examines it closely. A tender smile touches his lips. “I bought this bracelet for Shu’er. Where did you get it? Tell me everything.” Xi Zhu stares at his master in astonishment, his gaze growing more complicated. After a long silence, he says flatly, “I happened to find it by the road.” With a lead at last, the madam is soon found and brought home. Yun Xuan summons Xi Zhu. “From now on, you’ll serve as the madam’s secret guard.” The young man pauses slightly. His expression is hidden behind a mask, and his cool voice betrays no emotion. “Understood.” A Few Notes for Readers 1) Female lead is F, male lead is C. Xi Zhu is the male lead. He is two years younger physically, but older emotionally. 2) The male lead is aloof, then turns cunning once they grow close. He always wears a mask around the female lead. The progression is: secret guard, secret admirer, then secretly stealing her away. 4) The heroine had no choice but to threaten and persuade him to get the sword. He was someone she had saved, and he was also afraid his whereabouts would be exposed. He gave her the sword to repay her kindness. The heroine did not rob him! She paid him afterward, too! If you have a problem, take it up with me, not her~ 5) A routine clarification: When the heroine meets the male lead, news of Yun’s death has arrived, so she is a widow. Also, although the heroine and Yun exchanged wedding vows, they have no marriage certificate. While her relationship with Yun is still in effect, there is no romance between her and the male lead, and no violation of the laws governing marriage in ancient times or overlapping relationships. Key point: no rules are broken. I’m terrible at naming, so character and book names may change when I start writing. This blurb was revised on June 7, 2024, and has been screenshotted as proof by Wo Shi Shenme Miao on Weibo. Please don’t accuse me of copying based on a single element in the blurb. 6) The original premise was written in early December 2023, under the same book ID, and screenshots of it are on Weibo. Original version: The second male lead was poisoned and had only a few years to live. Unwilling to let power slip away from him, he found the male lead, whose appearance closely resembled his own, and made him a stand-in. At first, the male lead followed the female lead and the second male lead as a secret guard, observing the people and events around the second male lead. Occasionally, he would impersonate him in practice and interact with the female lead. The female lead knew nothing throughout. Meanwhile, the male lead went from cold-blooded and heartless to soft-hearted and falling for her. His identity was exposed after their wedding night. Because the plot was too complicated, I removed the part where the male lead served as the second male lead’s stand-in while working as a secret guard, but kept the character setup and the love triangle: the second male lead’s secret guard x the second male lead’s wife/fiancee. Theme: Love gives the white rabbit claws, while the shadow grows flesh and blood