Years into her widowhood, Xie Mingyi, a noblewoman of the marquis's household, had a strange dream.
In the dream, all four of her beloved children, two sons and two daughters, met tragic ends.
Her scrupulous, courteous eldest son formed a faction for personal gain, and the new emperor sentenced him to execution after the autumn harvest.
Her kindhearted, free-spirited second son became obsessed with alchemy and elixirs, and died of poisoning.
Her beautiful, dignified eldest daughter gave her heart to the wrong man, then died of grief in the prime of her life.
Her innocent, carefree youngest daughter was insatiably greedy. After her practice of lending money at interest was exposed, she took her own life out of guilt.
It was too important to ignore, so Xie Mingyi decided she had better believe the dream. She immediately summoned her children.
But before she could say a word, all four of them, already reborn, clung to her legs and burst into tears.
“Mother, we were wrong.”
After they came clean, the eldest son promised to focus on his studies and never take crooked shortcuts again. The second son voluntarily gave up alchemy. The eldest daughter swore off love and would seek only wealth and glory. The youngest daughter promised never to make money from the poor.
And yet...
The eldest son used his knowledge of his teachers' and fellow students' preferences from his previous life to win their favor with just a little clever maneuvering.
The second son gave up alchemy and took up medicine instead. Unfortunately, he was so gifted that he eventually became a master poison-maker.
The eldest daughter climbed into bed with her faithless lover's uncle and was directly granted a title and admitted to the imperial palace.
The youngest daughter really did avoid making money from the poor. Her shop made a fortune every day, selling perfume and fragrant lotions to noblewomen at ten times the price.
The good news: the children didn't come back to life without learning anything.
The bad news: what they learned was a little too extreme.
Gu Xuanjin, commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, would never forget that night.
Before his senior brother died, he had quietly begged Gu Xuanjin to look after his young, widowed sister-in-law, Xie Mingyi.
A lamp burned dimly. Outside the lattice window, heavy snow fell, covering the courtyard in a lonely blanket of white. Inside the main hall, another couple was being torn apart by death. It was a truly heartbreaking scene.
But as Gu Xuanjin gazed at his sister-in-law, a noblewoman of distinguished birth and unattainable status, all he felt was a burning heat in his chest.
For many years after that night, whenever he said “sister-in-law,” the emphasis always fell on “lady.” The two words lingered on his tongue, refusing to fade.
Before you read:
1. The female lead is not a virgin, while the male lead is. She and her late husband were, at most, barely respectful companions. The male lead feels insecure and remains troubled by it, with a slightly gloomy, obsessive streak.
2. A fictional setting, with domestic intrigue and political maneuvering, but essentially a silly slice-of-life story.
3. There may be a little bit of a secondary couple.
4. The female lead is 31, the male lead is 28. He is younger.
5. The male lead is also reborn. In his previous life, he took his own life after the female lead died. He is a hopeless romantic, so proceed with caution if that's not your thing.
Theme: Live life to the fullest.
