I Pretended to Be Weak and Accidentally Won Over My Archrival

New story now serializing. Here's the blurb below. Please add it to your collection~

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Sheng Zhaoyin is the only daughter of the Marquis of Rongchang. Her beauty is as radiant as snow, her features richly lovely, and every gesture bears the dignified air of a young lady raised in a marquis's household.

Xie Xun is a general of the Anyuan Army. He joined the army at fifteen, beheaded an enemy at seventeen, and became a general at twenty. Handsome and tall, he is also rigidly proper and difficult to approach.

They met at a palace banquet, and neither was willing to give way as they passed each other.

"Don't you get tired of keeping a straight face every day?"

"It's easier than dealing with you."

"Would it kill you to speak nicely?"

"Yes."

"..." Sheng Zhaoyin laughed in exasperation. As expected, getting him to say something human was harder than reaching the heavens.

Who could have guessed that years later, an imperial decree would bind these two people, who couldn't stand each other, together as husband and wife?

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Sheng Zhaoyin would rather live as a widow in all but name than spend the rest of her life with that man for real.

Her close friend advised her:

"Don't worry. Men like Xie Xun can't stand clingy, spoiled women. Just pester him a few times after you get married, and he'll soon be fed up with you."

She took this advice to heart and went all out to make trouble after the wedding.

She had barely taken two steps after getting up in the morning before she pressed a hand to her forehead and leaned toward him. "Husband, I'm dizzy."

He was reading official documents in his study when she propped her chin on her hand and gazed at him. "Husband, could you look at me first?"

Whenever he was about to go out, she tugged at his sleeve and asked softly, "Husband, could you stay with me a little longer?"

But Xie Xun always remained cool and composed. He showed no sign of being annoyed, nor any intention of divorcing her.

Unable to take it any longer, Sheng Zhaoyin decided to try a more potent remedy.

One night, she clutched the man's clothes with red-rimmed eyes, her voice trembling. "Husband, now that we're married, why won't you consummate the marriage?"

She thought that with Xie Xun's upright, old-fashioned nature, this time he would surely turn on his heel and leave.

But that night, lamplight dimmed.

The red candles burned low, and whispers continued through the night.

When she woke, Sheng Zhaoyin saw his thoroughly satisfied expression and angrily raised a fist to punch him.

So much for being pure and abstinent! He doesn't seem abstinent at all!

Without even raising his eyes, Xie Xun caught her wrist and pulled her back into his arms with a slight tug.

"It seems my wife still has plenty of energy. If I'd known, I should have worked harder."

His hoarse morning voice fell by her ear. Sheng Zhaoyin's ears suddenly turned red, and she struggled to wriggle away.

Xie Xun slowly rubbed his thumb over her wrist bone. "Weren't you the one who came after me first, my wife? Why are you blushing now?"

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Reader's Guide:

1. A sweet 1v1 romance! A fatherly male lead's everyday devotion to his wife.

2. The heroine has a girlish heart and an exceptionally active inner monologue. She often lets her imagination run wild.

3. The male lead is the type who acts tough but is soft-hearted, and takes a while to realize his feelings.

4. The first few chapters set things up. After that, it's almost entirely about the leads. You can start from chapter seven~

Content warning: The heroine doesn't have much of a career storyline. This is a pure romance slice-of-life, with few scenes for supporting characters.

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[Raising a Live-in Son-in-Law, Then Keeping the Child and Sending the Father Away]

Yun Yao wanted a child, but wasn't particularly interested in having a husband.

Her father had no sons, and the clansmen came knocking every day, pressuring her to adopt a boy from a collateral branch to inherit the marquis's household.

After thinking it over, she decided to recruit a powerless, penniless live-in son-in-law who had nothing but good looks. Once she had a child, she would pay him off and send him away.

After several days of weighing her options, she chose Li Zhi, whose family had fallen on hard times.

He was handsome, his family had gone bankrupt, and aside from his cold temperament, he suited her in every way.

After they married, Li Zhi proved difficult to get close to.

He was quiet and aloof. Sometimes, when she teased him until he couldn't take it anymore, he would turn his face away and stop responding to her.

The more Yun Yao looked at him, the more she liked him.

Handsome, refined, and a little fierce, he was like the cat she'd raised as a child, except he was a cat by day and a tiger by night.

Every morning, Yun Yao woke up feeling as though she'd been chewed up and spit out.

Raising a man wasn't easy, especially one who couldn't be tamed. Once the child was born, she decided she wouldn't keep him around anymore.

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Li Zhi was born into a prestigious family. When disaster struck and his father was convicted of a crime, he fell from the clouds into the mud.

Just then, the only daughter of the Marquis of Changping's household was looking for a live-in son-in-law. For some reason, she chose him.

To clear his father's name, Li Zhi had no choice but to compromise and take the initiative to go to the marquis's estate.

On their wedding night, Yun Yao gave him just one instruction: work hard at farming.

Li Zhi: "..."

During his first month as a live-in son-in-law, Yun Yao clung to him night after night.

Li Zhi, his face cold: "Shameless."

By the third month, she was still just as clingy.

Li Zhi could now tie her sash for her without changing his expression.

By the fifth month, Yun Yao was pregnant.

She stopped coming to him.

Li Zhi waited a month, but she still didn't come.

Just then, the old Li family case was retried, and the injustice was finally overturned.

The next day, banknotes, the deed to a residence, and divorce papers were all placed before Li Zhi.

"You're free."

Only then did he learn that she had taken him as a live-in son-in-law simply because she wanted a child.

Now that she had one, she naturally intended to keep the child and send the father away.

In a fit of anger, Li Zhi left the capital. He was gone for five years.

Five years later, the once-destitute son of a convicted official returned to the capital, now a rising star with immense influence at court.

Everyone waited to see whether Yun Yao, who had thrown him out all those years ago, would regret it.

Li Zhi thought so too.

This time, he would make that heartless woman, who had used him and then tossed him aside, pay.

But when they met again, Yun Yao's eyes lit up the moment she saw him.

"You're finally back!"

Li Zhi sneered.

Regretting it now?

The next moment, Yun Yao gratefully shoved a miniature version of him into his arms.

"I really can't handle this mischievous child anymore. You teach him."

Theme: Set aside prejudice and treat one another with sincerity