Back Before My Family Was Wiped Out

[The story is complete. My new novel, The Ghost Marriage Groom Has Returned from the Battlefield, is now out. Please add it to your reading list, mwah!]

Yun Xinghui is gentle and graceful, the daughter of a scholar from a county town outside the capital. Her family lives a comfortable, peaceful life.

Then tragedy strikes. Just after her father passes the provincial examination, he is gravely injured and left paralyzed. Her younger brother is framed and dies unjustly in prison, and her mother takes her own life in despair.

Yun Xinghui takes care of her father alone and keeps the family afloat. Just as things begin to improve, she dies on the eve of her marriage to a man who had joined her household. A great fire wipes out the Yun family.

When she opens her eyes again, Yun Xinghui discovers that she has returned to the starting point of the tragedy in her previous life.

Her father's fall from a cliff was no simple accident.

Memories of her past life come flooding back. With the disaster that destroyed her family hanging over her like a sword, Yun Xinghui vows to find the real culprit.

But while searching for the killer, she keeps running into Xiao Yaofeng, a constable from the capital.

Xiao Yaofeng sees the value of her clues and raises an eyebrow. "Shall we work together?"

Yun Xinghui admires his martial skills and smiles. "Deal."

They hit it off, and everything goes smoothly. Then a decree from the palace suddenly orders the selection of consorts.

The old emperor is already sixty, and the forty-year-old crown prince has no children. She has no intention of entering the palace to be a concubine whose only job is to produce sons. That would delay her revenge!

But two urgent attempts to arrange a marriage fall through.

Yun Xinghui has no choice but to seek out Xiao Yaofeng. "Would you like to come to my house tomorrow and ask for my hand?"

*

Xiao Yaofeng, Prince of Zhao Commandery, is posing as a constable to investigate a murder when he meets a bold woman. She looks delicate and frail, but her hand doesn't tremble at all when she kills.

Xiao Yaofeng, who can do whatever he likes in the capital, finds her more and more interesting, and increasingly suspicious.

It's only a consort selection. Why is Yun Xinghui in such a hurry to get married?

Looking down at the imperial edict urging him to marry on the table, Xiao Yaofeng's lips curve into a faint smile. What a coincidence. He has to take a wife too.

What an unexpected bonus.

Watching Yun Xinghui walk right into his trap, Xiao Yaofeng secretly rejoices and promises, "All right."

His guilt over just sabotaging two prospective marriages instantly vanishes. He heads straight to the palace to ask his imperial uncle for permission to marry her!

Note:

A sweet romance, both leads have only one partner, happy ending.

Two straightforward people fall in love.

[Smart, resilient heroine vs. carefree, devoted prince]

--- Coming soon: The Ghost Marriage Groom Has Returned from the Battlefield ---

The Duke of Zhenguo's family wants to arrange a marriage for their heir, who died on the battlefield. The duchess swallows her pride and begs the emperor to grant a marriage decree, insisting that Ning Qing, who has taken up religious practice, marry into the family.

Everyone in the capital is waiting to laugh at Ning Qing, who will be a widow as soon as she marries.

But Ning Qing willingly gets into the bridal sedan.

She thinks, Lu Changye can be my dead husband for all I care. I'm marrying into the Duke of Zhenguo's family so I can be a widow!

After the wedding, Ning Qing dutifully cares for the matriarch and looks after her nephews in the Duke of Zhenguo's household. She manages the household by day and remembers to burn prayers for her husband's soul at night, hoping he'll reach paradise soon.

Unexpectedly, three months later, her husband, who died on the battlefield, returns!

Ning Qing panics. She doesn't want to be a real wife to a man she's never even met. So she writes a divorce agreement herself, packs her bags, and prepares to head south.

Not long afterward, Lu Changye finally finds the house where she's staying temporarily.

Under the soft moonlight of Jiangnan, the man who once cut a dazzling figure in the capital now looks haggard, his eyes bloodshot from lack of sleep. "My lady, I choose only you. I want to marry you properly, with all the rites."

Note:

Married first, in love later. Both leads have only one partner. A sweet everyday romance.

[Calculating, loyal heir vs. beautiful, cool heroine]

Theme: Use the law to solve problems