After her husband died, Xie Yaoge was driven out of her in-laws' home by her mother-in-law and went back to her own family alone.
At the Yunchuan ferry, a man stood tall and graceful, looking just like her late husband.
Knowing a little martial arts, Xie Yaoge abducted him.
One night of passion became night after night.
Caressing his familiar features, she made him call her "Madam" whenever he was aroused.
Then her family urged Xie Yaoge to return home and remarry, so she decided to sleep with him and run.
She knocked him unconscious and left him half a string of copper coins as payment.
The man counted it out: ten coins a day, less than a male courtesan in Pingkang Ward would make.
Drums thundered, red silk hung everywhere, and Xie Yaoge plotted her escape from the wedding sedan.
Halfway along the road, a commotion erupted and someone suddenly flung open the curtain.
Xie Yaoge found herself face-to-face with those familiar eyes.
"Sister-in-law, you think you can sleep with me and run off for that little money?"
Qi Ning defied propriety and insisted on marrying his widowed sister-in-law. The Qi clan leader was furious and demanded to know how he could face his late elder brother.
Qi Ning: "My brother appeared in a dream and told me to marry Yaoge. If you don't believe me, go ask him yourself."
The clan leader fainted on the spot.
Xie Yaoge knocked Qi Ning out and ran away. When he caught her, he said,
"Yaoge only hits me and nobody else. That proves she loves me deeply."
Xie Yaoge: People say the Qi family's second young master is powerful, aloof, and untouchable. Who started that rumor?!
Reader's guide: The heroine has had previous relationships; the hero is a virgin. The heroine has complicated feelings about her late husband.
Description revised May 20, 2026
Premise: Treasure the present