The Capital's Most Esteemed Lady Was Divorced

Sunny noblewoman x gloomy, world-weary general. Marriage before love, second-chance romance, a sweet story of the husband pursuing his wife.

Her father was the chief minister, her maternal grandfather was the richest man in the land, and everyone said Song Xian was the most fortunate noblewoman in the capital.

The character "Xian" in her name was pronounced like "immortal," so the noblewomen of the capital warmly called her "Sister Xian," both praising her graceful bearing and trying to curry favor with her.

Surrounded by admirers, Song Xian rejected the eldest prince, whose looks and bearing were as refined as jade, and fell at first sight for General Xiao Wangzhi, who had returned to the capital from the border.

Xiao Wangzhi in black robes, with white silk in his hair!

He always bound his hair with white silk, the kind used to cover the faces of the dead or by condemned officials to take their own lives.

The dreaded general, whom everyone avoided like a demon, was pursued by a fairy. On the surface, she claimed she was after him for the cost of a damaged jade pendant, but in reality she protected him at every turn, afraid he might suffer even the slightest hardship in the unfamiliar capital. She couldn't stand to hear anyone say a bad word about him.

Her partiality made everyone stare, yet Xiao Wangzhi remained unmoved. Those in the know said he had a childhood sweetheart in his heart, someone with whom he shared an extraordinary bond.

But Song Xian insisted on having her way. She tried every trick in the book, and in the end, they married.

Not long after their wedding, a new emperor took the throne with an iron fist, and the Song family fell from grace overnight.

She tumbled into the mire while he rose to prominence, becoming a rising star at court.

A divorce decree turned the once lofty fairy into the laughingstock of the entire capital.

"Xiao Ming, you're not a demon. You're destined to go down in history," Song Xian sighed. "But we're even now, so we should never see each other again!"

Xiao Wangzhi clutched the priceless jade pendant and jolted awake from a nightmare...

No one had ever treated him so well. Even her deception when they first met had been for his sake, and in the end, she divorced him to save his life.

She should have despised him like everyone else. Then she wouldn't have ruined her reputation for his sake, and she should have let him go. But... a demon had no heart, and he couldn't let her go!

In the spring-lit bedchamber, unseen by anyone, the gloomy, stern general grasped her pale jade foot and pulled the woman trying to escape back into his arms. "Just a taste, then stop? You think you can throw me aside the moment you say you don't want me? Even if I was just your pawn, you provoked me, so now you have to take responsibility to the end. Even if... all you do is keep me as a hidden guard, never letting me see the light of day or giving me a name or status."

Tips: 1. A sweet story of mutual healing, one-on-one romance, both are each other's first and only partner, happy ending.

2. The plot has twists. The female lead is emotionally and physically healthy, strong, and good at loving others. She's no lovesick fool. The male lead becomes a lovesick fool later on.

3. This isn't a typical husband-pursues-wife story. Neither lead suffers. It's the bittersweet regret of "we could have been so good together" and an all-consuming devotion that lasts a lifetime.

Next story: My Wife, Save Me. A timid yet capable office worker transmigrates into a book x a seemingly patriarchal, old-fashioned young lord who is actually an affectionate puppy.

Liu Can didn't know why the male lead in the book she'd transmigrated into was different from the one in the original story.

From their first meeting, he saw through her disguise as an unpopular concubine-born daughter substituted for the Hou family's bride. He made her kneel in the ancestral hall on her wedding night and looked at her as if she were an object that shouldn't exist.

Where was the sweet romance she'd been promised?

Why had she witnessed with her own eyes a child being pinned to the blue-brick floor by an elder and beaten until his spine broke, all because he knocked over a lamp in the ancestral hall? The people around them clapped and praised the father for being "strict with his children."

The original story revolved around the two leads, with very little information about the outside world. It turned out that everything left unwritten had grown its own rules: rules that cut like knives and a code of propriety that devoured people alive.

She had no choice but to stay close to the male lead. Relying on her knowledge of the plot and the patience she'd developed as an office worker, she served him like a boss and just barely managed to stay alive.

The male lead, Xie Fushen, was more terrifying than every boss she'd ever had.

Though still young, he seemed like the century-old Duke of Wei's estate had taken human form: archaic, dignified, untouchable. When he lowered his eyes and said nothing, shadows gathered around him. When he looked up, those shadows seemed to obey his command, quietly crouching at his feet. His eyes were so clear they reflected the clouds.

Liu Can had no time to investigate why Xie Fushen hated her so much. As soon as she found a way out, she decisively wrote up a divorce agreement.

But Xie Fushen, who was always cold toward her, suddenly lost control. He clutched her sleeve and snarled, "Liu Zhaozhi, if you want my life, then I'll give it to you. Just wait until I'm dead before you leave."

Xie Fushen, heir to the Duke of Wei, had the bearing of an immortal and the talent of a god of war. He had everything the world had to offer.

Until his wedding day.

The reception hall was full of guests, red candles blazed, and then Xie Fushen's vision suddenly went black. He collapsed.

When he awoke, he learned that he was merely a character in a storybook. Everything he had been proud of existed only to make a certain woman shine brighter, and in the end, he would die a gruesome death while saving her.

That woman was the bride whose veil he had yet to lift.

He could never let himself meet the same fate as the character in the book.

From then on, he watched her coldly.

Sure enough, just as the storybook said, she came to him every day to curry favor. Even when she was so sleepy she could barely keep her eyes open, she still forced herself to get up early each morning to bring him soup. She even put on a show of being delicate and fragile, speaking to him in a high, soft voice, only to turn around, clutch her chest, and roll her eyes.

She was clearly afraid of him, yet she came to him every day, grinning from ear to ear.

...It was kind of interesting.

That day, after she finished writing a divorce agreement in what looked like chicken scratch, she sat alone for a long while. At last, she muttered, "I can't think of you as just a fictional character, and I don't want you to die. You... sigh, I'll think of some other way to get back."

"My wife cannot leave me." Xie Fushen smiled, his eyes bright. The vision of his gruesome death had never been clearer in his mind, but he no longer resisted. He simply said softly, "My wife, save me!"

Theme: May love shine brightly. May we both love fiercely!