The Upright Widow of the Top Scorer's Family

*Transmigration / farming and imperial examinations / building wealth / a gentle, slow-paced story

*Gentle, refined widowed sister-in-law × brooding, ghostly younger brother-in-law × honest hunter elder brother

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Shen Mingyan has always been the sort of person who takes life as it comes. When he transmigrates into the body of a bridegroom-to-be, he doesn't make a fuss. He simply puts on the red veil and walks into the Xu family's home.

Xu Jiayou is an honest, rough-hewn hunter, and he has a younger brother studying for the imperial examinations. Shen Mingyan expects life to be hard, but Xu Jiayou gives him everything he can. Even when there are two chicken legs on the table, one usually goes to Shen Mingyan and the other to his younger brother, Xu Changsheng.

Gradually, Shen Mingyan comes to see how good Xu Jiayou is to him. In the quiet of the night, he even takes the initiative to put his arms around Xu Jiayou's neck and softly call him “husband.”

What he doesn't know is that Xu Changsheng has gotten up in the night and heard them. Now he stands by the window, watching through eyes gone crimson. He hears Shen Mingyan call his brother “husband,” and sees his usually composed, gentle sister-in-law acting so differently...

The days pass.

Xu Changsheng's dark feelings for Shen Mingyan quietly spread and grow unchecked.

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Soon, the imperial court begins conscripting soldiers. Xu Jiayou is forced to go to war, and when news finally comes, he is dead on the battlefield. Xu Changsheng is only seventeen at the time, and has just passed the provincial exam. Everyone in the village assumes Shen Mingyan will leave Xu Changsheng and remarry.

But after calmly handling Xu Jiayou's funeral, Shen Mingyan takes Xu Changsheng's hand and solemnly promises him at the grave that he will take good care of him in Xu Jiayou's place.

As long as Shen Mingyan is still breathing, he will make sure nothing happens to Xu Changsheng.

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Shen Mingyan keeps his promise. From then on, he sells tofu on the streets and runs a small business so Xu Changsheng can sit the metropolitan and palace examinations. When Xu Changsheng fails for the first time, Shen Mingyan takes his hand and gently tells him, “You can always start over.”

Xu Changsheng proves himself worthy of all that effort. He grows stronger with every setback and finally takes first place, earning the title of top scholar in his fourth year.

Shen Mingyan is proud as can be. That very day, he takes good food and wine to Xu Jiayou's grave to share the good news.

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After becoming the top scholar, Xu Changsheng is suddenly in the limelight, and people begin eyeing the gentle, refined widow at home. At a banquet, the drunken Marquis of Yongan has Shen Mingyan secretly drugged and brought to his bed.

When Xu Changsheng hears what has happened, he goes berserk. He beats the Marquis of Yongan, then rushes into the room--

He sees his composed, gentle sister-in-law lying weakly on the bed, shoulders trembling as if he is doing his best to endure something. Xu Changsheng's eyes turn red. He rushes forward, holding the struggling Shen Mingyan tight as he awkwardly kisses his eyes and cheeks. “Just think of me as my brother! Just think of me as him!...”

[Bonus scene]

After a wild night with Xu Changsheng, Shen Mingyan is so ashamed he wants to die. Afraid he might do something foolish, Xu Changsheng ties him to the bed with red silk and tells him he isn't allowed to go anywhere. Xu Changsheng prepares to marry Shen Mingyan, but then a fire breaks out from nowhere, and the sister-in-law who has been by his side all these years leaves his life forever.

Three years later, Shen Mingyan's turbulent life finally returns to normal. One day, while shopping on the street, he unexpectedly spots someone with a figure very much like Xu Jiayou's. His heart pounds as he hurries after him--

“Husband...”

The man turns around, calmly and grimly removing his mask. “Sister-in-law, do I look like him? I've practiced for a long time: his posture, his voice...”

“Sister-in-law, let me be your husband.”

P.S.

The romance shifts between pairings over time, but each stage is one-on-one. Shen Mingyan lives in the present. Once he transmigrates to ancient times, he doesn't long for anything from the modern world. Likewise, when he is with the elder brother, he loves only the elder brother; when he is with the younger brother, he loves only the younger brother. This isn't a story about the living being unable to measure up to the dead. The romance with the younger brother begins after the elder brother is gone; before that, their relationship is a normal one between a sister-in-law and her husband's younger brother.

Theme: Live in the present and be content with what you have.