[A domineering, ruthless general × a devoted, self-effacing husband]
[Childhood sweethearts turned bitter enemies | Fake rekindled love | A true sea of hatred and passion | Also known as A Match Made in Resentment]
In the seventeenth year of Changding, Ying Pingning returned victorious from her western campaign in Pingning and was granted an imperial marriage to Zhijin, the only son of the chief councilor.
The news left the entire court in stunned silence.
Everyone knew the Ying and Zhi families were bitter enemies, their hatred as deep as the sea. Who would dare celebrate the forced marriage of such a pair?
Zhijin knew it all too well.
Sure enough, after the wedding, their relationship was cold as ice.
On their wedding night, he spent the night alone. On his birthday and every holiday, he ate cold meals by himself.
Ying Pingning hated him to the bone. Even when she was promoted, she casually tossed aside the congratulatory gift he had kindly sent and trampled it into the mud.
She even gave him a cold jab: "If you really want to congratulate me, then never let me see you again."
But Zhijin couldn't bring himself to feel even a little aggrieved.
He had wronged A Ning. She had every right to treat him however she wished.
Her coldness and humiliation were what he deserved, and he accepted them willingly.
Until an accident sent Ying Pingning tumbling from her horse, where she hit her head.
When she woke, she acted completely out of character. Looking at Zhijin, she smiled, her eyes curved.
She even took his sleeve and called him gently,
"Darling."
Zhijin froze on the spot.
Darling, darling...
The last time Ying Pingning had called him that was seven years ago.
She had lost her memory, returning to the year when they were childhood sweethearts, deeply in love.
-
Ying Pingning had fallen from her horse and hit her head.
Her injuries weren't serious, but after remaining unconscious for a long time, she lost a stretch of her memory and forgot many things.
At least she had her darling by her side.
She and Zhijin were childhood sweethearts with a deep bond. Now, married by imperial decree, they were a perfect match. Surely they were happy.
But gradually, Ying Pingning began to sense that something was wrong.
She doted on Zhijin as a matter of course, so why did the attendants look like they wanted to say something?
It was perfectly ordinary for her to attend banquets with her husband, so why did everyone whisper?
They had been married for less than a year, when they should have been passionately in love, so why did she and her darling sleep in separate rooms?
Zhijin also seemed like a different person, often troubled and melancholy.
Even in his sleep, he was restless. Whenever he woke, his tears had soaked her clothes.
Ying Pingning didn't know that he was on edge, terrified that one day this dream would shatter, she would regain her memories, and she would treat him coldly again.
She only thought someone had bullied him and upset him.
She secretly gritted her teeth and decided that no matter what it took, she would find the person who had made her husband sad...
Then tear them limb from limb.
Reading notes:
1. Gender-bender, happy ending, but angsty along the way. One-on-one. The male lead is completely pure, hopelessly lovesick, thinks only of the female lead, very weak, and cries easily.
2. Female-strong, male-weak romance-focused story. No children, no accessories, no role reversal. (The extras may include an if-story with a male pregnancy, and an ABO if-story.)
3. Important, in bold:
[An egalitarian fictional world, not a matriarchy]
[Both men and women serve as officials; women can marry men, and men can marry women]
[Some background elements are inspired by the Ming dynasty]
[The plot is light; it mainly follows the leads falling in love]
4. There is a reason the leads became enemies back then. It was a misunderstanding, which will be explained in the story.
5. Some scenes involve the male lead suffering.
6. No unsolicited writing advice. Blurb screenshotted on 2025.12.22.
7. More details to come.
(The blurb and premise have changed. Sorry, sorry TnT. I ran out of inspiration for the original premise and couldn't write it, so I switched to this bittersweet amnesia story with fake rekindled love.)
Theme: Love makes scars bloom with flowers
