I Was About to Destroy the World When My Late Wife Returned

Updates follow the rankings before the story goes premium. It goes premium on Thursday, then updates daily.

Blurb:

The year Feng Shu died in the northwest, everyone said she had rebelled.

The emperor distrusted her, treacherous ministers framed her, and not a single official at court dared speak in her defense.

Yet six months after her death, she miraculously came back to life. Once she awoke, she had only two goals.

To avenge herself and clear her name, and to choose a new ruler for Great Xia.

So she set her sights on Prince Qi, Li Chengzhao.

They had once been husband and wife for six years.

In Feng Shu's memory, Li Chengzhao was kind-hearted, gentle, and quiet. He simply did not love her.

The day they met again,

Li Chengzhao stood outside the eastern capital, his expression cold and ruthless, his voice devoid of feeling.

He planned to blow up the entire city.

Only then did Feng Shu realize that the gentle, harmless Prince Qi had long since become a man everyone feared.

But at the critical moment, he saw her through the crowd and suddenly ordered everyone to stop.

The storm raged, and all voices fell silent.

Feng Shu met his gaze from afar, her heart jolting.

Had he recognized her?

But soon she dismissed the absurd thought.

During their six years of marriage, Li Chengzhao had never loved her.

How could he recognize her now, when she had come back from the dead with a completely different face?

So she walked toward him, step by step, and bowed.

"Your Highness, Prince Qi, I wish to serve as your strategist and help you achieve greatness."

*

Everyone believed Prince Qi, Li Chengzhao, hated Feng Shu to the core.

Her fame had overshadowed him, making him seem useless and worthless.

But no one knew that as a boy, Li Chengzhao had not coveted the throne or riches. He had only wanted to grow up in peace.

Until he met Feng Shu.

From then on, all he wanted was to follow behind her, always.

During their six years of marriage, he was awkward and quiet, unable to win her affection.

She thought he was cold and distant.

He thought he simply wasn't good enough.

Later, Feng Shu died in the northwest.

The gentle, harmless Prince Qi died with her.

He guarded the lands she cherished for years.

Then he crossed mountains and searched every temple, pleading with gods and spirits in the underworld.

All so that somewhere in this world, he might find his wife again.

*

That night, the northwest was buried beneath yellow sand.

Li Chengzhao knelt on the wasteland, using his blood as an offering as he bowed until his forehead bled.

"I offer my life in exchange for my wife's."

Reading Guide:

An alternate-history setting. Both leads are virgins. Happy ending.

There is a misunderstanding; the male lead loves only the female lead.

The male lead has a personal-growth arc, while the female lead's story focuses on her career.

Flashbacks are interspersed, but none are very long. Please don't read if you mind.

If you don't like it, please don't insult anyone. Writing is hard; let's treat each other with respect.

This is NOT a strong-female-lead story!!! NOT a power fantasy!!! NOT a strong-female-lead story!!!!

First line: About love.

Second line: Two blocks of wood.

Next book: The Seventh Year After My Death

Blurb:

Yu Mian died at the age of twenty-one.

It was the third year of her reign as empress.

At last, she was free. She had hoped to be reborn into a good family and live a comfortable, carefree life, but Meng Po told her she couldn't be reborn.

Someone had locked away one of her souls and three of her spiritual parts.

With no other choice, she searched everywhere.

For six whole years, she found no clue. Then, in the seventh year, as she passed by the palace walls, a high monk called out to her.

With his palms pressed together and a kind expression on his face, he gave her a brocade pouch that could help her find her lost soul.

*

But when Yu Mian opened her eyes again, she discovered that she had returned to the age of sixteen.

Back then, she still lived in a thatched hut and worked as a doctor in a small village. When she looked up, the sky stretched endlessly before her.

Unable to contain her joy, she resolved to leave her past life behind and never meet that person again.

She would make up for the regrets of her previous life, travel from kingdom to kingdom, and treat the sick.

But on the morning she was about to set off, she heard people discussing how Emperor Wen'an had been assassinated and had died of poison that very day.

Yu Mian shut the doors and windows with trembling hands.

When she was sixteen, he had only been a down-and-out prince. There had been no Emperor Wen'an.

Yu Mian realized that she had not been reborn.

Her throat tightened, and confusion flooded her heart.

That night, when the village had quieted down, she finally opened the door, determined to find out the truth.

But as soon as she opened it, she looked up and saw someone. Yu Mian froze.

The person before her was a bloody, disheveled mess, yet even his tangled hair could not hide his gentle eyes.

"Miss, could you save me?"

Yu Mian said nothing.

At that moment, her mind was filled with memories of when she was eighteen.

The young man, dressed in imperial robes, had crouched at her feet in the throne hall before all the assembled officials. His eyes had been just as gentle as he gazed at her and said, "A Mian, be my empress."

Blurb saved on 2025.1.18 [Screenshot taken.]

Message: A flourishing age of peace exists because someone is shouldering the burden for us.