After Faking His Death, the Heir Went Mad

[Bewitching, flirtatious beauty x unhinged, aloof nobleman]

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The full story is complete, so read without worry. My next novel will be The Husband's Older Brother Claims Me. It opens in August, so please add it to your favorites, lovelies!

The first time Qi Yao met Lin Qi'an, she knew he wasn't the sort of man who would be easily swayed by beauty.

But she and her mother had come to seek refuge with her aunt, and with her future at stake, Qi Yao had to take charge of her own marriage prospects. So she had no choice but to seduce her cousin's future husband.

She'd heard he came from a distinguished family of marquises and dukes, was a close aide to the emperor, and was as handsome as an orchid or jade tree, peerlessly beautiful among men.

After slipping him a potent aphrodisiac, Qi Yao thought she might at least get close to this aloof nobleman. Instead, he despised her even more.

After that, she tried every trick in the book.

In the rock garden, to avoid his fiancée, Qi Yao grabbed him and pressed herself against him. She looped her arms around his neck and breathed into his ear, "Young master, your fiancée... she's about to find us. What should we do?"

When he remained unmoved, Qi Yao climbed into his carriage, leaned over him, and offered herself to him.

His gaze was inscrutable. He gripped her chin, and at last, unable to restrain himself, pulled her into his arms and kissed her deeply.

Qi Yao got what she wanted, and asked him to make her his principal wife.

He gave no answer to her face. But to her shock, she overheard him discussing her with his subordinate: "She's frivolous and shameless, and wildly presumptuous. For a woman who debases herself like that, giving her the status of a concubine is already more than she deserves."

She fled, swearing never to return to the capital for the rest of her life.

-

Lin Qi'an had been raised by his grandmother from childhood to follow the way of a gentleman. He never showed his emotions and wanted for nothing.

But ever since he met Qi Yao, she had seemed bewitching and shameless, a frivolous woman who would do anything to climb into the Lin family's prestigious household. She even climbed into his carriage and offered herself to him.

He loathed her, and looked down on a woman who would stoop so low.

After she drugged him, Lin Qi'an would rather hurt himself than touch her.

But one day, she swept aside the carriage curtain. Rain fell in silvery threads as the woman, soaked through, leaned over him. Beneath her thin dress, her shapely figure glistened, half-revealed. "Please, young master, take pity on me..."

Lin Qi'an lifted her chin and looked into her wounded, tear-filled eyes. His fingers traced her red lips with interest. Though he meant to refuse, he somehow agreed to help her deal with a difficult problem.

He thought that since she had offered herself to him, he might as well give her the status of a concubine and be done with it.

Who could have guessed that after he'd paved the way for everything to come, she would vanish without a trace?

When he finally found her again,

in the soft drizzle of Jiangnan, the woman ran into the arms of a stranger, her face shy as she softly called him, "Husband."

Lin Qi'an stood in the rain, his face dark with anger. He snapped the blade in his hand, and blood poured from his wound, though he seemed not to notice.

Blurb written August 1, 2025

Reader's Guide:

1. Both leads are each other's only partners, one-on-one. In her previous life, the male lead had no actual relationship with his cousin. Emphasis!

2. Later on, there will be coercive pursuit and a face-slapping comeback. The male lead puts on a tough front early on, then gets his comeuppance later.

3. The female lead is a flirtatious little troublemaker who uses her beauty to get away with bad behavior, but lots of people love her.

4. This is a romance-focused story. There will be lots of kissing and cuddling, and the romance takes priority over the plot.

My next upcoming novel, The Husband's Older Brother Claims Me. If you're interested, please add it to your favorites, lovelies. Mwah!

Timid, honest younger sister-in-law x gloomy, scheming eldest brother-in-law

Luo Rong had skin as fair as snow and beauty like a flower, but she was timid and awkward, and came from a humble country family.

Thanks to a life-saving favor, she married Pei Zidu, a young master of the distinguished Pei family. They were a loving couple, sweet as honey after their wedding.

But an imperial decree announced that Pei Zidu had died on the way back from suppressing bandits, leaving no body behind.

Heartbroken, Luo Rong drank a little cold wine on the night of her husband's funeral.

Staggering into her late husband's study, she opened the door and saw his familiar, gentle face in the moonlight.

His palm was so warm. In a daze, Luo Rong threw her arms around him and poured out all the longing she'd kept bottled up. She cupped his face and kissed him urgently.

That night, as they passionately entwined, she was half-conscious and could only feel that her husband was unusually vigorous and tireless, holding her as if he could never get enough.

-

Pei Zhen, the eldest legitimate son of the distinguished Pei family, was aloof and proud, disciplined and reserved, upright and dignified. He was the family's heir apparent.

After his second younger brother died unexpectedly, Pei Zhen returned from the capital to the family estate to attend the funeral.

That night, a woman barged into his room and shattered his dream. Drunk, she took liberties with him, and Pei Zhen was furious.

He thought he should push her away, but for some reason her lips were so soft, and the heady scent of wine made him feel as if he were drunk too. Before he knew it, he had spent the night entangled with her.

When he woke the next morning, the woman was panicked, as if she'd seen a ghost. She hurriedly straightened her clothes and fled before he could ask her name or who she was.

He assumed she was some family's maid or a female relative. He never imagined she was his second brother's wife, whose husband had barely been dead a day.

The woman timidly avoided him, showing no desire to cling to him or curry favor.

He laughed coldly to himself. That was for the best. It spared him the trouble of explaining this absurd affair to his parents and relatives. He could set it aside for now.

Back in the capital, his parents, concerned that his second brother had died without an heir, suggested that he take on both branches of the family and produce an heir in his brother's name.

He hesitated.

He thought of the woman's dull, timid, and cowardly nature. Her looks were nothing special, and she barely knew how to read. Compared with the noble ladies of the capital, she was leagues behind.

He firmly refused, and suggested preparing a dowry for her so she could remarry, thereby honoring her connection to the Pei family.

But Pei Zhen never imagined that one day he would care so much about a country girl.

His second brother returned from the dead, and Luo Rong wept as she embraced him. In the crowd, Pei Zhen clutched a dagger, wishing he could make the resurrected man truly dead on the spot.

Behind the wall, Pei Zhen gripped her slender waist and stripped off her layers of clothing. Watching her tremble and plead through tearful eyes, with his second brother just on the other side of the wall, he murmured against her ear, "Tell him you want a divorce. Tell him you want to be my wife."

Content warning:

1. The female lead has had previous partners; the male lead is pure in both body and heart.

2. The story includes taking a second branch of the family, coercive pursuit, breaking up a couple, brothers fighting over a woman, and love after sex. It's an all-in-one collection of melodramatic tropes.

3. The male lead is a thoroughly patriarchal feudal lord. He won't change, and at heart he's a vicious, scheming villain.

4. The female lead is an honest, timid person who won't fight back. She can only be cornered and cry without daring to make a sound. She genuinely loves the younger brother at first, but later the male lead claims her by force, and the brothers fight each other in a dramatic showdown.

May 20, 2026

Theme: Never give up hope, no matter what.