Just Two Husbands, That's All

Now taking advance reservations for my new novel, The Night the Moon Meets the Breeze, on my profile.

Xu Yao was tricked by her stepmother and nearly lost her virginity to a strange young man.

When the young man awoke, he realized he'd taken liberties with her and was consumed with guilt. He immediately swore he would visit her family and ask for her hand.

Xu Yao thought he was just saying it to placate her. Who could have guessed that he really would come? As it turned out, he was Rong Sheng, heir to the Duke of Cheng!

Her status-conscious father readily agreed, and the marriage was settled without a hitch.

On their wedding night, the two exchanged smiles.

Xu Yao brought up their first meeting at Cangchun House, but Rong Sheng furrowed his brow. "Yao Yao, we first met four years ago, on the third day of the third month, by the Grand Canal. You broke off a willow branch and gave it to me as a farewell gift."

"Who did you mistake me for?"

At those words, the red candles in the room seemed to dim and chill.

Rong Sheng rose and left, not returning until the next day. He had come to take Xu Yao to meet his twin brother, Rong Chi, who had rushed back from Yanland.

The curtain lifted, revealing a face identical to Rong Sheng's, and the small mole beneath his left eye that Xu Yao remembered so clearly.

That tiny vermilion mole was the one she had kissed countless times in the throes of passion that night.

[Rong Chi's perspective]

After waking from a serious poisoning, he found the young woman beside him weeping bitterly.

Though they hadn't gone all the way, Rong Chi was not the sort to shirk responsibility. He swore that once his official business was finished, he would visit her family and ask for her hand.

But when he returned to the capital more than a month later, the woman he had longed for had already become his sister-in-law.

Unable to endure Xu Yao's repeated attempts to avoid him, Rong Chi finally chose to confess everything to his elder brother.

"...Brother, I know I wronged you, but to you, Yao Yao is just an ordinary young lady. You don't have to marry her!"

His usually calm and composed elder brother suddenly lost control. "What makes you think I don't have to marry her?"

[Rong Sheng's perspective]

Rong Sheng had a girl he liked. No one knew.

Four years ago, he traveled north alone by boat to petition the emperor for justice on behalf of the people of Hangzhou, who had suffered a grave injustice.

Everyone thought he was unlikely to return alive.

Only one girl he didn't know broke a willow branch by the Grand Canal to bid him farewell. With bright eyes, she looked at him and said, "I'll wait for you to come back."

He did return victorious, and his name became known throughout the land. But he never saw again the girl who had smiled at him with the willow branch in her hand that day.

He spent four years searching for her. The moment he got word of her whereabouts, he rushed to her home to ask for her hand and bring her into his household.

Everything went so smoothly it was hard to believe.

Until she looked at him with those sparkling eyes and said gently, "When we first met at Cangchun House that night, you said you'd come marry me. I thought you were just saying it."

Rong Sheng felt as if he had fallen into an icy abyss.

He had never been to Cangchun House.

"Yao Yao, who did you mistake me for?"

·

1. The romances unfold in stages, with the next relationship developing after the marriage ends.

2. All male leads are chaste.

3. Four endings to suit readers' preferences, with no bad endings.

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The Night the Moon Meets the Breeze

On a moonlit night, their bodies glistened with sweat, and they lost themselves in a night of passion.

When the emperor of the Dajing dynasty awoke from the haze of last night's wine, the beauty was gone. Only a trace of fragrance lingered on his pillow.

Upon investigating, he discovered that her name was Pei Hengbo, and that she was the wife of the second son of the Count of Shunyi.

So what?

The young emperor gave a mocking smile. "If I want her, she's mine."

·

Pei Hengbo came from a fallen family in the capital. Her marriage into the Count of Shunyi's household was owed entirely to her peach-blossom beauty.

But her in-laws disliked her, and her sisters-in-law made life difficult. She lived a hard life. Once, when she accompanied her husband to a palace banquet, she accidentally fell into a carefully laid trap targeting the emperor.

When she sobered up, she fled the imperial bed in a panic, accidentally leaving behind her embroidered handkerchief.

She did her best to act as if nothing had happened and continued serving her in-laws and sisters-in-law at home, but trouble still came looking for her.

At the Mid-Autumn Palace Banquet, the emperor held a familiar-looking handkerchief to his nose and inhaled its scent. "Madam Pei, it's been a long time."

Theme: Promoting healthy, harmonious relationships