Back Before My Childhood Sweetheart Husband Took a Second Wife

[Some elements of the premise have been changed ☃️/Please collect it if that's an issue]

The eldest and second branches of the Qingguo Duke's household held their weddings on the same day. Two bridal sedan chairs, accompanied by music and fanfare, carried their brides into the estate.

Liu Shanning was to marry her childhood sweetheart. Before the wedding, he blushed and promised never to take a concubine. With his elder brother and sister-in-law managing the household, she wouldn't have to take charge of its affairs. The ducal residence was wealthy, and the two of them could simply enjoy their own carefree lives.

Liu Shanning finally agreed.

That night, when her veil was lifted, she saw a face both familiar and strange.

It was her husband's cousin, Cui Shao, a born leader who had been a celebrated hero since childhood and a mighty General of the Far-Reaching Realm.

The person she had admired and feared most as a child had lifted the wrong bride's veil.

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In his previous life, the year after Cui Yu married Liu Shanning, his cousin died in battle, leaving behind a lonely, widowed sister-in-law.

His uncle and aunt tearfully begged him to marry into both branches of the family and provide an heir for the elder branch.

At first, Cui Yu refused.

He never agreed, but Liu Shanning still had a huge fight with him. Drunk, he somehow ended up in his widowed sister-in-law's room.

After that, Liu Shanning never treated him kindly again.

Day after day, he begged her to change her mind, but all he got in return was endless scorn and mockery.

Gradually, without realizing it, he began comparing his widowed sister-in-law with her.

His sister-in-law was gentle and virtuous, while Liu Shanning was spoiled and willful.

His sister-in-law managed the household and kept the family estate in perfect order, while Liu Shanning only knew how to have fun and enjoy herself, never understanding the burdens weighing on his heart.

His sister-in-law would make a better wife than she ever could.

And yet he still loved Liu Shanning.

So when he was reborn, he switched the bridal sedan chairs. Once his cousin died, he could still marry into both branches, and Liu Shanning would remain his wife.

But some things seemed to have changed.

Behind the lush flowers and trees, his childhood sweetheart blushed and rose onto her toes to kiss someone else.

And his elder cousin, usually stern and unapproachable, held her in his arms with an easy intimacy, coaxing her: “Remember. A banquet at Yunxiang Tower, clothes from Xianming Residence, horseback riding on our days off. What else do you want?”

Cui Yu thought that as long as his cousin died as he had in his previous life, everything would fall back into place.

But as the days went by, his cousin grew healthier and healthier, and even his childhood sweetheart's belly grew bigger by the day.

His cousin took Liu Shanning's hand and said to him, “Thank you for giving me this marriage.”

Seeing the knowing smile in Liu Shanning's eyes, Cui Yu finally realized.

He wasn't the only one who had been reborn.

||

To Cui Shao, marriage was neither here nor there. A passionate union full of grand vows, like his cousin's, was one way to live; a quiet, respectful partnership, just as he had imagined, was another.

Who could have guessed that on the first night, the wrong bridal sedan was sent to him, and Liu Shanning's sobbing kept him awake all night?

On the second night, he slept on the floor to the sound of Liu Shanning's muffled sobs.

On the third day, dark circles under his eyes, he laid down three rules: in public, they would be husband and wife; in private, they would be brother and sister, and neither would cross the line.

Until one day, with spring willows drooping and a soft breeze brushing their faces, Liu Shanning waved her fan and cast him a graceful, lighthearted glance.

The spring light could not rival her radiance.

Cui Shao: To hell with being brother and sister.

He would spend his life with Shanning, cherishing her and treating her as an equal.

In her previous life, the heroine was not a virgin, while the hero was. In this life, both are virgins; they marry first and fall in love later. The sister-in-law is not a romantic rival in either life.

Theme: Love should be met with sincerity