Synopsis
My new novel, Love Begins with Marriage [Period], launches on September 1. Please add it to your collection! The blurb is below.
Blurb
Sharp-tongued, calculating Ninth Princess Consort x aloof, cold-hearted great general
Reborn, Lin Yuanyu doesn't want to get caught up in romantic entanglements again. All she wants is to become a widow and live out her days in peace.
"Dies young," "high status," and "no mother-in-law."
Men who meet all three requirements are rarer than phoenix feathers and unicorn horns.
To her surprise, she actually finds one: the sickly Ninth Prince, Zhao Qi, who fits all three and seems the perfect choice.
After she puts in a great deal of effort to arrange their engagement, she discovers he wasn't killed by illness. Someone murdered him.
And as it happens, Lin Yuanyu saved him, so he isn't going to die just yet.
Even more absurdly, another person who has been reborn is now living in her residence. This person is in love with Zhao Qi, the man who will one day be Lin Yuanyu's husband.
On their wedding day, Xiao Heng returns to the capital at the head of his troops after annihilating the enemy forces of Nanjing. Riding a warhorse with his personal guards, he stops in front of the newlyweds' procession, looks past Zhao Qi, and fixes his gaze on the bridal sedan.
The people around them murmur among themselves. From the looks of it, he's going to steal the bride.
After a tense standoff, the bride inside the sedan finally speaks.
"If we missed our chance, why keep clinging to the past?"
In an instant, the rumor spreads through the capital: the newly appointed General Qingyuan is in love with the Ninth Princess Consort!
When Lin Yuanyu died in her previous life, she believed Xiao Heng had betrayed her brother, leading to her family's ruin.
After being reborn, she both wants to treat him coldly and to win him over, reform him, and leave herself with one less enemy.
She uses him, looks down on him, targets him, and then, from time to time, tries to please him, cater to him, and give in to him, leaving him unable to pull away.
At last, one day, Xiao Heng makes up his mind to leave Lin Yuanyu. He doesn't want her to keep tugging at his heart like a dog on a leash.
Only after Lin Yuanyu gets married does she learn that Xiao Heng never betrayed the Lin family in his previous life. He was a victim, too. To avenge her, Xiao Heng was willing to stab the Empress to death, then put an end to his own life as well.
After Lin Yuanyu marries, she begins the long road to winning her husband back.
"Xiao Heng, I didn't say that that day. The magpie was imitating my voice. Yes, the magpie."
"Xiao Heng, I'm married now, but I can still go out and see you whenever I want. You don't need to avoid me."
"Xiao Heng, I'm a princess consort now, after all. Give me some face and talk to me for a bit."
Xiao Heng: "You do remember that you're a princess consort, don't you?"
Zhao Qi: "Could you two talk outside? I'm still right here."
Reading Guide:
1. The heroine isn't in love with the second male lead. She only marries him because she wants to become a widow.
2. The hero has been secretly in love with the heroine all along.
3. The heroine will divorce in the later part of the story.
Love Begins with Marriage [Period]
Xiang Qing and Qi Jinnan first met when they were in middle school, but they had no connection at school. They met because they were both "third wheels."
To keep their relationship under wraps, Xiang Qing's older sister, Xiang Wu, and Qi Jinnan's cousin, Fang Jianqing, would each bring along a "tagalong" when they met outside school. They claimed the four of them were studying together and helping one another improve, but in fact they were using the two younger students as cover.
After meeting again and again, Xiang Qing and Qi Jinnan grew close. Later, Qi Jinnan injured his leg while saving her.
Qi Jinnan came from a family with a problematic political background. He should have been sent to the Great Northwest to join the rural labor force at a young age, but his injury forced a delay. The neighborhood committee aunties kept coming to the hospital to hurry him along, while Xiang Qing pleaded with them again and again.
Later, she learned that married youths could be assigned to a nearby rural labor post at the authorities' discretion. She was from a solid working-class family, so without hesitation, she proposed marriage to Qi Jinnan.
Qi Jinnan didn't want to drag Xiang Qing down with him. But she was already of marriageable age, and her family had begun introducing her to potential matches. If he didn't seize this opportunity, he feared he would lose her.
The day after they got their marriage certificates, Qi Jinnan set off for the suburban area where he had been assigned to rural labor. He never contacted Xiang Qing first, not wanting to put her in a difficult position.
Four years passed this way. At last, Qi's parents were exonerated, and Qi Jinnan was able to return to the city.
The young couple face their parents' reproaches, their relatives' lack of understanding, and reports from acquaintances. They also encounter rare opportunities, growing step by step. Amid the tides of the times, they hold fast to who they are again and again, and ultimately find a beautiful love that began with marriage.
Xiang Qing used to talk about getting a divorce all the time. But after everything they experienced together, she finally understood the value of marriage and stopped casually uttering the word "divorce." Of course, Qi Jinnan deserves some credit for that, too.
Little Scene:
Xiang Qing covered her mouth, her face full of shock. "Why did you kiss me?!"
Qi Jinnan leaned against the wardrobe, his face very close to hers. His voice was low and slightly hoarse. "From now on, every time you say 'divorce,' I'll kiss you once."
Reading Guide:
1. The story is told from the heroine's perspective, with love growing after marriage. From the hero's perspective, it's a secret crush come true.
2. Daily meals and everyday life, with the couple working together toward a better life.
3. Everyone is a local, and there are no golden fingers.
Theme: Be kind to others, and you'll find happiness in the end
