The Widow's Wife

A dutiful young widow x her wicked younger brother-in-law

Liu Niang became a child bride in the Wen family at the age of five. Widowed at fourteen, she had only her brother-in-law, three years her junior, to rely on.

Before the graves of her parents-in-law and husband, Liu Niang took her brother-in-law's hand, shouldered the responsibility of caring for him like a mother, and said solemnly, "From now on, your sister-in-law will take care of you."

Her brother-in-law was taciturn and made no reply.

Later, he studied by candlelight and worked himself to the bone. At thirteen, he passed the county-level examination and became a xiucai, earning the name "prodigy" throughout the region. That same year, Bailudong Academy made an exception and admitted him. He became the only student from a poor family at an academy filled with the powerful and privileged.

At the riverside ferry, Liu Niang saw him off. Uneasy, she tugged at his sleeve. "If anyone at the academy mistreats you or picks on you, remember to come home. Your sister-in-law will take care of you."

The boy said nothing, staring at the tears glimmering in the corners of her eyes.

After a moment, he silently pulled her hand away and boarded the boat without looking back.

They met again four years later.

The boy had grown into a young man, passed the highest imperial examination as its top candidate, and returned home in glory.

He had been the same height as Liu Niang, but now he was tall and straight, his features deep and refined. He was so handsome that he seemed like a stranger.

Liu Niang felt ill at ease around her grown-up brother-in-law.

She never again found the courage to say, "Your sister-in-law will take care of you." She only hoped he would hurry up and marry, so she could fulfill her duty and step aside to live her own life.

But things did not go as she wished. Fate had other plans.

Her brother-in-law, who had been taciturn all his life and treated her as if she were invisible, cornered her in bedchambers late one night. His handsome face was flushed, his eyes dark as ink, and his low voice pleaded with her again and again:

"Sister-in-law, take care of me. Sister-in-law, please..."

Bonus Scene:

The results of the palace examination were announced, and Wen Cheng's name topped the list. The whole court envied him. Who in the land had not heard of him?

At dawn, Liu Niang straightened her brother-in-law's clothes.

Looking at the refined young man in the mirror, dressed in his splendid court robes, she thought of the matchmakers who had been flocking to their door. Forcing a smile, she said, "In a few days, I'll return to my hometown. Let's end things here."

In the mirror, the young man's eyes turned slowly, settling on her slightly rounded belly.

"End things? When my child is born, who are you going to tell them to call Father?"

Liu Niang had been honest and proper for two lifetimes. She had never imagined that one day she would sleep with the child she had watched grow up.

And become pregnant with that child's child.

Content warnings:

1. The heroine is a modern person who was reborn as a baby in the past. She has no golden finger and is partly shaped by the attitudes of her era.

2. This is a weak heroine story. A weak heroine story. A weak heroine story.

3. The heroine was young when her husband died. They never had a wedding ceremony or consummated the marriage, so they are both virgins.

Theme: Your words are a lamp for my feet and a light on my path.