Zhuo Chunxi (Reborn)

Yun Buxi didn't like the fiance her parents had chosen for her, Xie Zhuo.

Though Xie Zhuo had been appointed by imperial decree to oversee the Three Judicial Offices at a young age, she thought him cruel, ruthless, and merciless. He couldn't compare to Meng Chaoqing, who had grown up alongside her and was as gentle as jade.

At a banquet one day, Yun Buxi accidentally drank a love potion. She then wandered into Meng Chaoqing's room and was caught by someone.

In all the chaos, she failed to notice Xie Zhuo standing nearby, his eyes dark and intense.

Though the scandal damaged her reputation, she got her wish and changed her engagement. Overjoyed, she thought she would be happy with the man she loved. But just one year after their wedding, Meng Chaoqing brought home a woman, insisting that she was his one true love and should be made his principal wife.

After being pushed into the water, Yun Buxi died with hatred in her heart, her devotion reduced to a joke.

But why did her former fiance Xie Zhuo, whom she had betrayed in such a humiliating way and who should have hated her to the bone, never marry anyone either?

-

The good news: Yun Buxi is reborn.

The bad news: She's already drunk the love potion, and she's standing outside Meng Chaoqing's room.

Yun Buxi pressed her lips together and forced herself to the adjoining room, where she pushed the door open.

Inside, Xie Zhuo sat upright on the couch, holding a delicate porcelain cup in his long fingers, as if drowning his sorrows in wine.

He looked up at her, his thin lips curling into a self-mocking smile. "Have you come to break off our engagement again? What's your excuse this time?"

Yun Buxi turned and closed the door. As Xie Zhuo looked at her in disbelief, she slipped off her outer garment, her gaze settling on his strong, firm body. Her breath was sweet as she said, "Pingxian, help me."

The man's hand trembled, and the porcelain cup fell to the floor, splashing wine everywhere.

She didn't like Xie Zhuo all that much, but when she grew woozy and he pressed her down, she thought marrying him would probably be better than marrying Meng Chaoqing.

-

Meng Chaoqing knew he had wronged Yun Buxi. Now that he had returned to an earlier life, he tried every way he could to make it up to her.

But one day, when he went to find her and apologize, he heard a woman's heartrending, plaintive sobs, broken and intermittent, coming from her room. They sounded unmistakably intimate.

"I never liked him. Xie Zhuo, I like you. Only you..."

The man's voice was low and hoarse, tinged with amusement. "Wrong again. Call me husband."

Meng Chaoqing fled in disarray.

P.S.:

The young lady x the devoted lover.

The heroine and the second male lead are reborn; the male lead is not.

The male lead has always been a virgin. The heroine was married in her previous life, so she doesn't count as one.

Theme: As Heaven's movement is ever vigorous, so must a gentleman ceaselessly strive for self-improvement.