After Marrying in Place of My Legitimate Younger Sister

(Marriage Before Love / The Chase After the Wife Runs Away / Fleeing While Pregnant)

Flirty and Delicate x Scheming and Devoted

When A Nian married Shen Zhuo, she already knew he was ruthless and powerful. Life after the wedding was bound to feel like walking on thin ice.

At the time, Shen Zhuo controlled the emperor and commanded the court, issuing an edict that he would marry the legitimate daughter of his political enemy, the Lin family.

But Lin's father cherished his own daughter and ordered the adopted daughter he had raised since childhood to marry in her place.

And so, she was forced to become Shen Zhuo's wife, Lin Qingnian.

On their wedding night, she caught only a glimpse of a pair of ink-black eyes.

His palm was broad and warm, but ice lay in his gaze and snow in his brows.

*

But A Nian only wanted to survive.

Knowing he liked plum blossoms, she planted an entire garden of red plum trees for him with her own hands.

She carefully studied his build so she could sew him a more comfortable soft armor woven with gold thread.

She attended to his writing implements and, when he was tired, brought him a touch of spring warmth amid the snow.

Then she traded everything she knew about the secret passageways in his estate, the design of his weapons and armor, and the secrets in his letters for an antidote to the poison in her body.

But before the Lin family could bring Shen Zhuo down, she received news that the Lin family had fallen and that she was pregnant.

That day, she secretly listened from outside the window, catching only the abruptly cut-off half of a sentence: "I knew long ago that she wasn't the Lin family's legitimate daughter..."

A Nian suddenly understood that all the affection Shen Zhuo had shown her had been part of his playing along with her scheme. With his ruthless nature, now that he knew the truth, he would surely kill her at the first opportunity.

So she took nothing with her and ran.

*

After everything had settled, Shen Zhuo hurried to her courtyard, only to find it empty, with nothing left but a garden full of blooming red plum trees.

As he gazed at the red blossoms against the white snow, his heart suddenly clenched.

So love had spread through him unchecked before he even knew it.

Until one day, Shen Zhuo visited a fragrance shop. His eyes reddened, and in a gentle voice she had never heard from him before, he pleaded:

"A Nian, come home with me, won't you?"

Shen Zhuo had never imagined that one day he would fall captive to love.

The contest of black and white stones had always been perilous, yet love had secretly taken root amid their clashes.

So he gave way.

The prosperous age she wished for, he would give her. The peaceful dreams she wished for, he would make come true.

Reader's Guide:

1. One-on-one romance, both leads' first and only partners, happy ending.

2. Neither lead is perfect. Please read with care if that bothers you.

3. The title was inspired by the phrase "rinse with ice, wash with snow."

Theme: Supporting one another