Jing Shen, Prince Cheng, spent his life chasing power and women, ignoring Mu Hanzhang, the man he was forced to marry. However, when his life falls apart, Mu Hanzhang is the only one to stand by his side, even as they both face their deaths. However, Jing Shen wakes not to the afterlife, but to the day after his disastrous wedding night. Given a second chance, Jing Shen is determined to do things differently this time around, starting by making sure that in this lifetime his “wife” comes first.
I will admit that I am a sucker for this kind of time travel story. It gives the main character room for growth, and there’s a lot of room for things to go differently than the protagonist expects. And this story definitely delivers that. While he wants to do better by Mu Hanzhang, it’s clear that Jing Shen doesn’t exactly know how to do that, and he is muddling his way through his second chance. While he is doing better this time around, it’s definitely not as easy a task as he thought it might be. He’s muddling through things as best he can though.
Jing Shen is a surprisingly likable protagonist for all that he probably wouldn’t have been if the reader really experienced much of his past life. He’s not exactly an idiot, but he doesn’t have a lot of emotional intelligence at times which does hamper his efforts to woo Mu Hanzhang. It was easy enough for the reader to forgive Jing Shen as we really never see him mistreating Mu Hanzhang. We do get a lot more insight into him as a character than Mu Hanzhang which is a shame.
Still, Mu Hanzhang is a great foil for his husband, and as a couple the two of them compliment one another well. And it’s nice to see that their relationship mostly just moves forward rather than getting stuck in the same issues again and again. They do have things to navigate, but what they are changes over the course of the story. The focus is very much on the pair of them, so things like the political maneuvering and war do take a bit of a back seat. I was surprised a number of times with where the story went which is always a nice change for me. It’s a quick breezy read and a great choice for someone who is new to danmei novels to dip their toes in to the genre. Four out of five stars.
Bingo – And – Jing Shen is determined that both he and his husband get a happier end in their second lifetime.
