After Seducing My Late Husband's Brother

[Charming, gentle young widow x Cold, restrained elder brother-in-law]

In her previous life, Wen Chu Niang had not been married into the Duke of the Commandery's household for long when her husband met with a sudden disaster. When the tragic news arrived, her mother-in-law blamed her for bringing him bad luck and, since she had borne no children, hastily sent her back to her family to remarry.

Little did she know that the heir apparent had long coveted her. Less than a month after Chu Niang returned to her family, her brothers and sisters-in-law offered her to the prince as a gift to curry favor. She died before reaching the age of twenty.

Fortunately, she got another chance at life. But the heir apparent still had his eyes on her. If she left the protection of the Duke of the Commandery's household, she would have nowhere to go and no way to defend herself.

After much thought, Chu Niang decided that if only she could have a posthumous child by her husband.

Then she could stay in the Duke of the Commandery's household with every legal right, manage the assets belonging to her branch of the family, and live a comfortable, carefree life without having to answer to a husband.

As she thought this over, she secretly glanced at the cold, sharp figure standing not far away and gently bit her lip.

At first, Liang Xu treated his newly widowed sister-in-law with great coldness, both to avoid suspicion and because he knew she had ulterior motives.

But later, whenever he looked into her limpid, dark eyes, he knew the road ahead was a trap and still fell into it again and again.

He kept falling deeper, until one night Chu Niang rose from the warm bed. The flush still lingered on her lovely face as she thanked him softly. "From now on, Elder Brother, you needn't come to see me anymore."

In the end, Liang Xu couldn't hold back. He grabbed her slender wrist and sneered, "What, are you planning to bear my child and then keep vigil for my second brother?"

Reader notes:

**The male lead is sexually inexperienced, the female lead is not; contrasting skin tones and builds; older man; a restrained man breaks his vows.

**The female lead begins with feigned affection that turns genuine; the male lead knows better but still falls; they save each other.

**Set in a fictional world inspired by the Tang and Song dynasties, with relatively open and liberal social customs.

[The characters were revised for the story. Their personalities are now final and will not change again. If this isn't to your taste, please remove it from your collection. My apologies, and a bow. Note from 2025.11.18]

Theme: Love can cross mountains and seas