Married to My Stepsister's Fiancé

(Marriage first, love later; sweet romance, one-on-one, happy ending)

Cui Lingyan was the legitimate daughter of a marquis's family, but she was not favored. Because of her birth horoscope, her mother sent her to live with her maternal relatives. Her older stepsister, Cui Linghui, was the daughter of the first wife and had been cherished from childhood. Even Lingyan's cold and unkind mother treated her stepdaughter with every kindness, loving her as if she were her own. Lingyan had always envied Linghui and thought how fortunate her sister was to be so cherished by Heaven.

Later, while living with her relatives, Lingyan heard that Cui Linghui had received a fine marriage proposal. Her future brother-in-law was Lu Bingzhi, heir to the Duke of Wei's title. His mother had been the late Princess Shuning, and he was a man of noble birth, elegant as an orchid and graceful as a jade tree. Once again, Lingyan thought how lucky her stepsister was. Had Linghui done good deeds in a past life, that Heaven had granted her such a wonderful match?

Lingyan thought this way, but she knew the matter had nothing to do with her. Even if she were brought back to the capital, she would only greet Lu Bingzhi, her future brother-in-law, politely. One of them was in the mud, the other high in the clouds. A man of such noble birth could only ever be a match for Cui Linghui.

But Lingyan never expected Cui Linghui's marriage to fall through. After the imperial court and the marquis's household weighed their options, the marriage fell to her. Lu Bingzhi, whom she had never dared hope to marry, became her husband.

She entered the Duke of Wei's residence in a red wedding gown, but did not believe she would remain the heir's wife for life. She had a secret: on the way to the capital, she had a dream that revealed Lu Bingzhi's true identity. He was the emperor's own son, destined to become crown prince. A woman of her station would inevitably be cast aside one day, even if she was now his legitimate wife.

With this on her mind, she told herself not to harbor feelings she shouldn't have. She did not want Lu Bingzhi's heart. She only hoped that by being considerate, understanding, and well-behaved, she could earn a little of his goodwill. Then, once he was recognized by the imperial family and became crown prince, perhaps he would at least let her live.

On their wedding day, she asked him, "If I behave myself and take good care of you, would you grant me one request someday?"

The red candles flickered. The young woman's eyes were as clear as autumn waters. She gazed at the man before her with a hint of pleading and unease, as if waiting for her fate to be decided.

Their eyes met. Lu Bingzhi, usually cool and somewhat aloof, felt his heart soften. What could a woman of the inner quarters possibly ask for? He could afford to give her a little dignity. Thinking that she, too, had been treated as a pawn in this marriage, he nodded.

"All right."

Cui Lingyan felt reassured. She did her best to be a good wife to the heir and to Lu Bingzhi, thinking that he would eventually take all that into account and feel a little tenderness for her.

But she never imagined that, as the heir's wife, she would advance step by step into the Eastern Palace and become crown princess, then enter the Palace of Earthly Tranquility and become the honored empress.

Here's a friend's novel, The Prospective Crown Princess Becomes a Vassal Prince's Second Wife. Please show it lots of support!

Blurb:

At first, Song Yu had never considered marrying Xie Yingshi.

But when the emperor arranged their marriage, he had no choice but to obey. He had already decided to humiliate Xie Yingshi on purpose, so that everyone would know he hated the match.

He did exactly that, thinking Xie Yingshi would rely on her status as a princess and storm off to live in her own residence.

But she endured everything he did to her. Even when he repeatedly took her against her will and treated her like a plaything, all she did was cry and beg him to stop.

Seeing Xie Yingshi like that, Song Yu assumed her aunt, the empress, had told her to pretend to be nice to him so she could spy on his military plans or assassinate him.

But Xie Yingshi truly treated him as her husband and served him without any ulterior motive. She never once acted jealous of the concubines in his household.

If he had not known that Xie Yingshi had cried and protested when the emperor arranged their marriage, and that she had once been destined to become the crown princess, he might almost have believed she had fallen in love with him.

Until he discovered that everything was because of a dream. She only wanted to survive, not because she loved him beyond reason.

When he realized her attentions had been nothing but pretense and false affection, and that she had treated serving him as a job, his eyes turned cold.

No one had ever dared to humiliate him like this.

Ever since she was a little girl, Yingshi had known that she would marry the crown prince and become the crown princess.

But before the imperial decree arrived, rumors spread inside and outside the palace that her imperial uncle, the emperor, intended to make her a princess and marry her off to the battle-hardened heir of the Prince of Yanbei, far away in Yanbei.

Yingshi went crying to her aunt, the empress. Though her aunt had always doted on her, she only wiped away the tears at the corners of her eyes and said nothing about sending her away from the capital to marry.

Her aunt's attitude only made Yingshi more uneasy. Several times, she woke from dreams in the middle of the night, crying from her hurt.

Then one day, a ruined palace appeared in her dream. A woman lay on the bed, pale and gaunt, wrapped in white like a corpse, looking almost like a madwoman. That woman was herself.

In the dream, she was in Jinling. She had achieved her wish, becoming crown princess and then empress, but she was in the Southern Zhou dynasty.

A palace maid came in to report, "Your Majesty, I came especially to inform you that three days ago the emperor granted the Second Princess the title of Princess Deyang and betrothed her to the old Prince of the Southwest as his second wife. But please don't worry. Though the old prince is advanced in years, he knows how to treat a woman well. He'll surely be kind to the princess."

"You must understand that this marriage offers our Southern Zhou a rare chance to catch its breath. Once the princess marries him, the Prince of the Southwest will surely join Southern Zhou in opposing the Prince of Yanbei."

The scene changed. Xie Yingshi was once again dressed in splendid robes, and the palace around her was no longer the run-down cold palace. The middle-aged Crown Prince Zhou Rang, wearing an imperial robe, knelt before her in terror and begged, "Yingshi, the Prince of the Southwest has betrayed us and submitted to the Prince of Yan! Please save your cousin. Your cousin will give you to the Prince of Yan. Father always intended to make you a princess and marry you to him. You were meant to be his woman. I'll give you back to him."

Xie Yingshi had no idea why she had dreamed something so horrifying. Whenever she thought of it, she was overcome with panic.

She didn't want to become that pitiful woman. So she would do her best to be a good wife to the heir of the Prince of Yanbei. That only required a little acting and a little patience.

Theme: Learn to love yourself.