After Wei Xuan and I had tormented each other for most of our lives, he finally grew tired.
On his deathbed, he refused even to see me.
He had our children deliver his last words instead.
“In my next life, I would rather be your brother for a lifetime than spend half a life as your resentful husband, with both of us losing the ones we truly love.”
Sure enough, the moment he returned to the past, he rushed to free his childhood sweetheart from prison and showered her with tenderness.
Then he forced his mother to take me as a goddaughter.
Smiling, I accepted the jade pendant and bowed with perfect obedience.
“May all be well with you, Elder Brother.”
His hand faltered, then dropped stiffly to his side.
Before long, we were each betrothed to someone else.
He remained in the capital.
I was bound for Lin’an.
Yet on the day my boat departed, he tore off his wedding robes, leaped into the river with no thought for his life, and clung desperately to the gunwale, begging me to stay.
