Peering Longingly at Spring Mountain (Double Rebirth)

[Complete! A new sweet treat is in the works. My upcoming novel featuring the second male lead winning, Springtime Bedfellows, is listed at the bottom. Please add it to your collection. Thank you for supporting the official version!]

[Multiple rebirths / uncle and nephew compete for the heroine / younger uncle wins]

Synopsis 1:

Xu Wenting was born into a powerful, wealthy family. He was willful, unruly, and frivolous.

He fell for the gentle, quiet eldest daughter of the Meng family at first sight as a child. But later, when she married someone else, he gave up and married the Meng family's youngest daughter, Meng Hui.

He dragged Meng Hui down with him, almost out of malice, treating her coldly for years while keeping a string of mistresses.

On the eve of the Lunar New Year, Meng Hui begged him to give her an answer: would he marry her?

Xu Wenting released the mistress in his arms and gripped Meng Hui's chin, his voice icy. "Since your elder sister married in your place, what gives you the right to sit back and feel at ease?

"If you want so badly to marry me, then die with me, Meng Hui."

Meng Hui was exquisitely beautiful, the loveliest lily in the capital.

She had loved her childhood sweetheart Xu Wenting for years, turning down countless eligible suitors for his sake.

Then, day by day, every hope she had was ground to dust in this loveless, lifeless marriage, and she withered away along with it.

That Lunar New Year's Eve, six months later, Meng Hui died of despair in a remote courtyard.

Her youthful, ardent love had been nothing but a dream.

Xu Wenting did not even touch the three-foot length of wood that made up Meng Hui's coffin.

His lily withered in early summer, and the capital gained a madman known as Second Master Xu.

Synopsis 2:

Xu Wenting had never imagined that Meng Hui would leave him.

Fortunately, Heaven took pity on him and gave him a chance to be reborn. He swore that this time, he would treat Meng Hui well.

After regaining his memories, the first thing Xu Wenting did was go to the Meng family to ask for her hand, hoping to set a wedding date at once. But no matter how thoroughly he searched, he could not find Meng Hui.

It was a rainy day. Soaked and covered in mud, he finally managed to knock on the Meng family's door. But the person who opened it was not the Meng Hui he longed for. It was his own uncle, Xu Jibai, a Grand Secretary of the Cabinet.

Second Master Xu stumbled back in shock, the blood freezing in his veins. "Uncle... Why is it you?"

Xu Jibai raised his eyes indifferently, inadvertently revealing several fresh red marks on his neck. His tone was cool and dismissive. "Have some manners. Go home."

/

Xu Jibai was born into an illustrious family and blessed with extraordinary talent. He placed first in all three imperial examinations and, at a young age, was appointed to the Cabinet by imperial decree. His one regret was watching the woman he cherished marry his nephew and suffer unspeakable pain.

He could only send Meng Hui off with his own sick, sordid thoughts. In the dead of night, alone, he held Meng Hui's cold spirit tablet and wept until he retched and fainted.

Three years later, the youngest Grand Secretary in the history of Great Yin took his own life at the age of twenty-seven.

His farewell letter to the emperor read: "May Your Majesty remember my lifelong service. Bury me among the hills, ten li from the Meng family's tomb."

"If he can't learn to love her, then I will."

_

[The main story is told from the heroine's perspective after she is reborn.]

[Both the male lead and the second male lead love the heroine. The heroine will not suffer. The heroine is the center of her world. Though the synopsis doesn't show things from her perspective, she is the only one at the heart of the story.]

3. The synopsis may still change. Here's a little preview for now [hands on hips]

4. An alternate-history Ming Dynasty

5. The male and female leads have a six-year age gap

6. Just making the number nice and auspicious, haha

Upcoming novel Springtime Bedfellows. Please add it to your collection.

Chen Xuzhi's mother was distant, his father kept him at arm's length, and even after his elder brother ascended the throne, they rarely saw one another.

He kept strict control over himself and followed the rules of propriety, always mindful of his conduct.

Everyone knew him as a devout Buddhist. Eighty-one red sandalwood prayer beads always hung from his wrist. His features were as pure as snow, and he was reserved and self-possessed, with little warmth for others.

But that wasn't the whole truth.

Besides his devotion to the Buddha and the emperor, there was a woman in his heart. Unfortunately, she loved his imperial nephew and never spared anyone else a glance.

He prayed for her night and day.

/

Wen Changqing was the orphaned daughter of a Cavalry General. When she was twelve, her parents and their entire household died defending Yannan Pass. She was the sole survivor, and the emperor took her into the palace, granting her the title of Commandery Princess Dunyi. She grew up alongside the gentle, refined Crown Prince.

The Crown Prince treated her with warmth and care, so she never imagined that he had already fallen for someone else, and deeply disliked her spoiled nature.

On the day their betrothal was to be discussed, the Crown Prince risked the charge of defying the emperor to break off the marriage promise they had shared since childhood, turning her into a laughingstock across the capital.

Everyone mocked her as an orphan who abused her father's military achievements to get her way, spoiled and willful, and even tried to come between the Crown Prince and the woman he loved.

Wen Changqing was mortified. There was no undoing what had happened.

Everyone assumed the spoiled Commandery Princess Dunyi would be crushed by this and that the matter would end there. But then Chen Xuzhi, the royal Buddhist prince who never concerned himself with worldly affairs and seemed to have no human emotions, stepped in.

Amid a snowy night, the man walked through the snow with an imperial decree from the late emperor in his hands and spent the whole night discussing matters with the emperor.

The next day, an imperial decree of betrothal spread throughout the capital:

Commandery Princess Dunyi was to marry Prince Yong, Chen Xuzhi.

/

The gentle and refined, supremely proud Crown Prince could not understand why his uncle, who never concerned himself with worldly affairs, had agreed to marry the spoiled Wen Changqing.

He married the gentle, considerate woman he loved, and at last the weight on his heart lifted.

But three years passed, and he saw Wen Changqing and Chen Xuzhi again.

Exhausted from the journey, Wen Changqing felt dizzy from the jostling carriage. When she climbed down, she kicked off her shoes and pouted at Chen Xuzhi for not laying out a Persian cotton cushion.

The palace attendants despised her for being so spoiled. The Crown Prince had already rejected her, yet she still hadn't learned her lesson.

Everyone thought Chen Xuzhi would be annoyed, too.

Instead, the Buddhist prince's expression remained calm. He bent down and, with the hand wrapped in prayer beads, affectionately put her embroidered shoe back on. He indulged her, saying,

"It was my fault. Don't catch a chill." Then he coaxed her, "The Persian harvest was poor this year, and the tribute was short. I'll order more next year."

The Crown Prince watched in silence, his heart heavy.

He felt a jealousy he couldn't explain.

He envied Chen Xuzhi for accepting Wen Changqing's temper, when it should have been him.

After revering this royal Buddhist uncle for so many years, he suddenly felt jealous, so jealous that he wanted to kill him and take his place.

Theme: Find your own meaning