The Third Year of a Marriage into a Wealthy Family

Three years into her advantageous marriage, her husband took a mistress and stopped coming home at night.

Liang Yufu was a virtuous wife. She would never criticize her husband. She managed the whole Gu household without complaint, while secretly finding herself a young, strapping stable hand to ease her loneliness.

The stable hand's love burned hot. Day and night, he showered her with affection and sweet words, coaxing her into developing some genuine feelings for him. Unwilling to ruin his youth and afraid their affair would be discovered, she freed him from slavery and sent him away to seek a future elsewhere.

Before he left, he held her lips in his and couldn't bear to let go. "When I return, I'll come with eight sedan chairs and ask you to marry me, Madam."

Liang Yufu laughed at his foolish devotion, taking it for a joke.

The next day, her husband fell into the water by accident. His body was never found.

*

Liang Yufu observed the mourning period for her late husband and enjoyed a life of riches, but she slept alone and could not find peace.

Seeing her grief, her clan sent her to a Taoist temple to recuperate and care for the eldest Gu brother, who had been imprisoned there by the emperor to reflect on his misdeeds.

Her brother-in-law was a principled man, elegant and unworldly in his Taoist robes, handsome and dignified. One look was enough to leave Liang Yufu unable to hide her fluttering heart.

Having already tasted love, how could she endure widowhood?

That very night, wearing only a thin robe, she knocked on his door. "My husband died young, and I have no children. From now on, my only support will be you, elder brother..."

Gu Huaizhen was cool and composed. He glanced at the jade-white hand resting against him, then sat firm and unmoved. "You are a virtuous widow, sister-in-law. You must comport yourself with dignity before the Perfected One."

Over the next few days, no matter how gentle and attentive she was, how much she lowered herself and clung to him, or even left her undergarments hanging outside his window, Gu Huaizhen acted as though he saw nothing.

Liang Yufu's heart grew cold. She turned her attention to a young Taoist and began flirting with him. Just as things were about to happen, Gu Huaizhen caught them in bed, drove the Taoist away, and tore her clothes. He scolded her for having no shame, then cherished and pleasured her on the bed again and again.

He was soon released from his seclusion and returned home to inherit the responsibilities of both branches of the family. In broad daylight, he climbed into her bed. "I'll give you a child. Stop seducing other men. You must observe a wife's virtue."

As time went on, he seemed to live in her courtyard, keeping her in bed until she could barely get up.

*

At first, Gu Huaizhen pitied her loneliness and feared she'd get involved with someone else and ruin the Gu family's reputation. Later, he fell deeply in love and could no longer let her go.

As he was about to ask the clan for permission to marry her, a newly risen court official came to propose, offering a great deal of money and using his influence to pressure the family. He intended to marry Yufu with a grand procession of eight sedan chairs.

In a panic, Gu Huaizhen tried even harder to please her in bed and swore his devotion again and again. At last, he persuaded Yufu to stay with the Gu family and marry him instead.

Then, just as the wedding approached, her supposedly dead brother-in-law returned.

A plain, devoted wife x a sanctimonious elder brother-in-law x a lovesick younger man with puppy-dog devotion

1. The female lead is 21 at the start, the male lead is 25, the second male lead is 18, and the third male lead is 20.

2. The female lead is not a virgin. Her romantic storylines with the male lead and second male lead begin after the end of her first marriage. This is a melodramatic romance, full of satisfying, exciting thrills. Dig in!

3. Blurb saved on September 3, 2026.

Theme: Sincere love can break through restraints and find a happy ending.