Mu Zhaoyao

[Originally titled "After Pretending to Marry My Betrothed"]

Shen Yao was a wealthy merchant in the capital, and her life had always gone smoothly. Her only complaint was her betrothed.

Gu Jingzhao, the Marquis's second son, was cold by nature and low in status. Yet he excelled at both scholarship and warfare, had distinguished achievements to his name, and was constantly viewed with suspicion by the Marquis's principal wife.

Shen Yao felt that with his cold face and dangerous position, she would be better off breaking off the engagement and finding a live-in son-in-law.

Unexpectedly, on the day they met, the two of them were both attacked, fell from a building, and died.

When she opened her eyes again, she had been reborn at seventeen. Then she realized...

That Gu Jingzhao seemed to have been reborn too.

To avoid repeating their past, the two decided to work together and pretend to marry.

Shen Yao drew up a plan overnight:

After the wedding, the couple must not appear to be in perfect harmony. Only if she alone was hopelessly in love with Gu Jingzhao could she ensure everything went smoothly.

Gu Jingzhao thought it was a good plan.

He couldn't act like a loving husband even if he tried.

From then on, Gu Jingzhao had a young woman by his side who loved only him.

She was always whispering in his ear, "Husband, husband," and "I love you, I love you."

It was annoying and impossible to get out of his head.

After hearing it often enough, not only did everyone else believe her, but whenever Gu Jingzhao heard those words, his heart skipped a beat too.

During their partnership, Shen Yao felt she had done an excellent job.

Not only did her acting fool everyone, she also gave him money and support, stood by him through thick and thin, and even gave herself to him as the antidote after he was set up.

Gu Jingzhao did his part well, too. Over the five years, he rose steadily through the ranks and became a rising star at court.

When their agreement ended, Shen Yao began preparing to leave. But as soon as she arrived at her new home, Gu Jingzhao showed up in the middle of the night.

The candlelight was dim, making his eyes look red.

He trapped Shen Yao between the bed and himself, like a little beast afraid of being abandoned.

"Shen Yao, you've fooled everyone else. Now come and fool me..."

#Doomed couple acting online#

#She said she loved me so convincingly, it couldn't have been an act#

#I had absolutely no idea my acting partner and I would fall for each other for real#

Warm-faced, cold-hearted, and thick-headed X cold-faced, warm-hearted, and quick to fall in love

[Reading guide]

1. Young married couple, marriage of convenience, love after marriage, sweet romance.

2. One-on-one, both leads are sexually inexperienced, happy ending.

3. Fictional setting, extremely fictional, no historical research required.

4. The male lead's unrequited love is for his benefactor. He only loves the heroine!

5. Slice of life. The career and romance plots are in a 2:8 ratio.

(Coming soon)

Coming soon: After Taking the Place of a Reserved Top Scorer

Shen Yuan knew she had stolen this marriage, so even loving the husband who loved her felt dishonorable.

She was merely a maid who swept and cleaned for the Zheng family. When the family's second young lady ran away from her wedding, Shen Yuan was sent to marry into the Marquis's household in her place.

After the wedding, she lived in constant fear, terrified someone would discover who she really was.

Fortunately, the young lady she had replaced had a bad reputation, so everyone in the Marquis's household kept their distance. Her husband was busy and never got close to her.

Two years passed without a single slipup. There was only one unexpected thing.

She had fallen in love with her husband, Jiang Yan.

Fortunately, she had hidden it so well that no one noticed.

Until one day, the second young lady returned home and exposed her feelings.

Later, her mother-in-law told her that her presence was holding her husband's career back and ordered her to ask for a divorce.

Only then did she realize that her little dream had been stolen from someone else, and that her happiness was nothing but wishful thinking.

Jiang Yan knew his wife had a terrible reputation. She had originally been engaged to his legitimate elder brother, but when his stepmother strongly objected, he had to honor the engagement in his brother's place.

Fortunately, in their two years of marriage, she had been well-behaved. She even seemed to avoid him at every turn, as if she were hiding a secret.

It was only after she was murdered one day that he learned his wife was actually named Shen Yuan.

He thought that was her biggest secret. But years later, when they met again, he saw the pair of children in her arms who looked so much like him, and his eyes narrowed slightly.

The way she kept avoiding him looked awfully familiar.

She must have another secret.

Theme: Face hardships with the courage to start over