An Oblivious Noblewoman vs. a Gentleman Who Secretly Covets Her, also known as The Quest for a Husband
When she was nine, the only daughter of the prime minister lost both her birth mother and her fiancé. She earned the ill-fated reputation of bringing death to her family and husband. From then on, her father despised her, and her in-laws resented her.
Only her fiancé’s younger brother, Ji Heng, cherished her like a precious jewel.
Ji Heng was three years older than her. As they grew up, he became as noble and radiant as his brother, gentle as jade. At first, she called him “older brother,” but he taught her a line of poetry.
He said that when two childhood friends know each other so well and each considers the other the most important person in the world, it’s called being “childhood sweethearts.”
But she didn’t know that the next line of the poem was, “At fourteen, I became your wife.”
-
After eight years as childhood sweethearts, no one in the world knows Zhaozhao better than Ji Heng.
Whatever the Qin family failed to give her, Ji Heng provided, bit by bit. The only trouble was that Zhaozhao seemed unable to forget his late brother, and refused to open her heart to love again.
That was all right. Ji Heng could cut his feet to fit the shoes and become a second version of his brother.
He thought everything would fall into place naturally.
But one day, Zhaozhao suddenly told him she wanted to meet some eligible men?
*
Qin Mingyu has a secret: she has two souls in one body.
Her kind soul is innocent and sweet; her wicked soul is wild and lawless.
They’re as different as night and day, but they share one wish: to find a good match. She asks her most reliable childhood friend to help her choose, certain she’ll get exactly what she wants.
But on the very night her marriage is finally arranged,
Ji Heng barges into her room wearing his brother’s clothes.
The refined gentleman turns into a bewitching demon, leaning over her.
“Zhaozhao, marry me. Don’t you like me best when I look like my brother?”
Terrified, Qin Mingyu kicks him in the chest.
“Don’t be ridiculous! We’re just childhood sweethearts!”
Ji Heng smiles and grabs her ankle, pulling her beneath him.
“If I’m no longer the most important person in your heart, then I don’t want to be your childhood sweetheart anymore.”
The man who has always been refined and proper slowly strips off his clothes, his voice hoarse.
“Zhaozhao, I won’t lose to him.”
“Why don’t you find out?”
*
Later, Qin Mingyu ends up with the clingiest husband in the world.
During the first month of their marriage, fresh, bright-red bite marks keep appearing beneath Qin Mingyu’s collar, day after day.
Qin Mingyu: “I never knew you liked biting people so much.”
Ji Heng wraps his arms around his little wife from behind, nuzzling against her cheek and ear.
“It’s not biting. If I could, I’d swallow you whole and keep you warm inside me with my own flesh and blood, day after day. I want every part of you, good and bad, to become one with me.”
You’re a treasure I won through dishonorable means, after all.
Reading Guide:
1. One-on-one, happy ending. The male lead is her brother-in-law and secretly loves her, brooding over his unrequited love.
2. Split personality, no fantasy elements.
Theme: Marriage isn’t necessarily the answer. I live and die alongside myself.
