After Proposing to the Cold-Faced General (Rebirth)

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Novel Info

Author:
别来月
Status:Ongoing

Summary

Qiao Shilian, the second daughter of the Prime Minister, lived a life of privilege and careful adherence to social propriety. She was betrothed to the Crown Prince, Qin Shuo, a match celebrated across the capital as a union of equals and deep affection. However, her existence was shattered during a banquet at the Princess’s residence. Drugged by an unknown incense and misled by a fabricated message, she stumbled into the arms of a man disguised as the Crown Prince. Witnesses misinterpreted the encounter as an illicit affair, destroying her reputation. Despite her protests of innocence, her father, Qiao Qingsong, and her mother chose to protect the family’s political standing rather than their daughter. Forced to drink poisoned wine to preserve the Qiao family’s honor, Qiao Shilian died in agony, abandoned by the man she loved and the family she served.

Her spirit wandered as a ghost until she witnessed the Crown Prince’s affair with her former confidante, Fang Yaoyao, and realized the depth of their betrayal. In her final moments of consciousness, she saw Su Zhuoguang, a cold and aloof young general, find her mutilated corpse in the wilderness. He alone showed her dignity, burying her and vowing to investigate the truth. When Qiao Shilian opened her eyes, she found herself reborn sixteen years old, back at the very banquet that had sealed her fate. Armed with memories of her tragic death, she resolved to change her destiny, avoid the traps set for her, and uncover the conspiracy that destroyed her life.

At the Luoxia Mountain Villa banquet, Qiao Shilian immediately distanced herself from Fang Yaoyao, recognizing her true malicious nature. She confronted the Crown Prince when he attempted to comfort her, exposing Fang Yaoyao’s eavesdropping and securing her removal from the court’s inner circle. She also formed an alliance with Zhou Shu, a spirited marquis’s daughter whom Fang Yaoyao had previously sabotaged. By providing Zhou Shu with the correct perfume for her dance performance, Qiao Shilian prevented the incident that had previously turned the Crown Prince against her rival, thereby gaining a powerful friend and altering the social dynamics of the capital.

As the night progressed, Qiao Shilian’s carriage was sabotaged in a storm, a clear attempt to force her back into the Crown Prince’s villa to repeat the events of her past life. Suspecting a trap, she sought the aid of Su Zhuoguang, who had returned to the capital from the border. Though initially cold and dismissive, Su Zhuoguang agreed to help her after she demonstrated her knowledge of the impending danger. He coordinated with his guard, Fenglai, to monitor her movements while she pretended to seek help from the Crown Prince inside the villa.

Inside the darkened villa, Qiao Shilian was attacked by an assassin using the same drugging incense from her previous life. She fought back, creating enough noise to alert Su Zhuoguang, who breached the villa’s security to rescue her. The Crown Prince arrived shortly after, feigning concern, but Qiao Shilian remained guarded, aware that he was complicit in the cover-up of his affair with Fang Yaoyao. Su Zhuoguang’s intervention not only saved her life but also established a critical partnership. He revealed that he had been investigating the scandal that led to her death in her past life, indicating that his actions were driven by a desire for justice rather than mere pity. Together, they began to peel back the layers of conspiracy surrounding the Crown Prince, Fang Yaoyao, and the political machinations that had cost Qiao Shilian her life.

The story shifts from a tale of victimization to one of strategic revenge and political intrigue. Qiao Shilian must navigate the treacherous waters of the imperial court while maintaining her reputation. She relies on Su Zhuoguang’s military prowess and investigative skills to expose the truth. The Crown Prince, unaware that his past actions have been seen and judged, continues to manipulate those around him, underestimating the resolve of the woman he discarded. As Qiao Shilian reclaims her agency, she transforms from a pawn in the Crown Prince’s game into a player determined to dismantle the corrupt system that destroyed her.

Novel Items

Poisoned Wine

Poison

A cup of poisoned wine that Qiao Shilian's mother Madam Qiao poured and offered to her daughter. Qiao Shilian's father Qiao Qingsong forcibly held her, bound her to a chair with a sash, pinched her jaw open, and violently poured the poisoned wine down her throat. The poison caused agonizing pain, reduced her voice to broken gasps, and ultimately killed her, causing her consciousness to scatter and fade.

Duijin Feathered Robe

Clothing

A precious feathered robe that Qiao Shilian had given to Fang Yaoyao as a birthday gift not long before. In a deeply insulting act, Fang Yaoyao was stepping on this robe while having an affair with Crown Prince Qin Shuo at the Luoxia Mountain Villa, showing her complete disregard for Qiao Shilian's feelings and their former friendship.

Incense

Substance

Strange incense burning in the room where Song Yuejiao was locked. It caused her head to feel groggy and her body to grow hot, likely a drug to incapacitate her.

Strange incense

Talisman

Incense that suddenly appeared during the scandal at the bamboo pavilion in Qiao Shilian's past life. It was part of the trap set to frame her, used alongside the impersonation scheme.

Qin Shuo's robes

Item

Robes belonging to Crown Prince Qin Shuo that Fang Yaoyao temporarily stole and lent to someone else to impersonate him at the bamboo pavilion, luring Qiao Shilian into the trap that ruined her reputation.

Short dagger

Weapon

A short dagger carried by Su Zhuoguang in his sleeve. He used it to repel hungry wolves and disperse carrion crows that were threatening Qiao Shilian's corpse in the wilderness, with sharp and decisive movements.

Latest Release

Date	Group	Release
2026-08-11	shanghai fantasy	c15
2026-08-11	shanghai fantasy	c14
2026-08-11	shanghai fantasy	c13
2026-08-11	shanghai fantasy	c12
2026-08-11	shanghai fantasy	c11
2026-08-11	shanghai fantasy	c10
2026-08-11	shanghai fantasy	c9
2026-08-11	shanghai fantasy	c8
2026-08-11	shanghai fantasy	c7
2026-08-11	shanghai fantasy	c6
2026-08-11	shanghai fantasy	c5
2026-08-11	shanghai fantasy	c4

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Popular reviews

WimpyReader Review ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ May 25,2025

Can we just take a moment to appreciate Fenglai as a character? This kid is absolutely unhinged and I love him. He's clutching two items — the booklet and the hairpin — and his internal monologue is just pure panic: 'I must have forgotten to check the almanac today. One thing after another had happened, making him feel that his early demise wasn't far off.' The man is one bad decision away from being fired or beaten, and he still can't keep his mouth shut. But the real comedy gold is the secret message scene. Fenglai bursts in proud as a peacock: 'Young Master, Young Master, I've just delivered the letter to Miss Qiao! I guarantee no one else saw me!' And Su Zhuoguang's response is just... silence. The deathly silence. And Fenglai, still not grasping the problem, explains: 'Things like delivering letters for secret meetings... they're always done in the middle of the night, aren't they?' SECRET MEETINGS. He thinks his young master is arranging a romantic rendezvous. Lanze is standing right there and she's just watching this train wreck unfold. Meanwhile, Qiao Shilian's dialogue with her brother is a completely different register — warm, affectionate, almost playful. 'Elder Brother is the best!' she says, and he's clearly indulgent but also slightly bewildered by her sudden interest in the hunt. The contrast between Fenglai's chaotic energy and the Qiao siblings' gentle dynamic is what gives this section its texture. And Su Zhuoguang's lines — short, clipped, almost monosyllabic — perfectly convey his emotional unavailability, even as the narrative tells us he's internally screaming.

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Abyss Review ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ January 4,2025

I have to talk about the guard's POV because it is genuinely the funniest thing in this entire text and I was not expecting it. After Su Zhuoguang carries the corpse through the rain and gives his orders—summon Lanze, get clean clothes, buy a good-quality coffin, investigate the banquet tomorrow—the guard's internal reaction is absolutely priceless. He's worried about his own legs. He's trying to figure out if the master ran away from home again. He's calculating whether he'll get his legs broken by General Su. And his final thought? 'Forget it. Either way it's trouble. Better help the master cover it up for now.' The narrative voice shifts so naturally between the heavy, poetic prose of the main story and this grounded, almost comedic internal monologue. It's not overdone—it's just a brief moment of humanity that makes Su Zhuoguang feel like a real person with real problems, not just a stoic novel character. Qiao Shilian's dialogue when she's reborn is also noteworthy. 'Brother, I'm fine... it's just that there was an insect in the wine cup; it startled me.' The way she forces a weak smile and maintains her dignified image while internally screaming—her external voice is perfectly controlled, which makes her internal monologue all the more powerful. The contrast between what she says and what she thinks is where the real voice lives.

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GaganH Review ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ October 10,2025

There's so much layered meaning in these chapters and I want to unpack at least a piece of it. The poisoned wine is the central symbol of betrayal. In her first life, Qiao Shilian is forced to drink it by her own father—family destroying family. The wine cup shatters in her rebirth, and her instinctive reaction shows how deeply that trauma is wired into her. She can touch physical objects now, she's alive again, but the memory of that cup is what wakes her up to her new reality. Then there's the rain. Rain in this text isn't just weather—it's the boundary between life and death, between abandonment and compassion. Qiao Shilian's spirit wanders through the rain, unable to feel it but cold to her marrow. Su Zhuoguang walks through the same rain to find her body. The rain washes the mud from her face. Water becomes both the medium of her suffering and the instrument of her dignity. The white robes are another symbol I can't ignore. Su Zhuoguang, always immaculate, always cold and distant—here he is in white, stained with mud, kneeling beside a corpse. White in Chinese literature often symbolizes mourning, and he's essentially performing the mourning no one else will. The Qiao family, who should have buried their own daughter, left her to the wolves. He, a man she barely knew, gives her what her family refused. And the rebirth itself—returning to the banquet where it all began—suggests that the story is about breaking cycles. She went from victim to ghost to reborn woman with agency. The question now is what she does with that agency.

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ssr3x Review ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ November 2,2025

Okay so this whole arc about Fang Yaoyao finally clicked into place for me and I had to stop and process it. In her past life, Qiao Shilian declined the Crown Prince's invitation to the forest hunt because Fang Yaoyao stood her up — claimed she was sick, and Qiao Shilian just... believed her. She worried about her friend for days. And now in this life, she pieces it together: Fang Yaoyao wasn't sick at all. She disguised herself and went to the hunt specifically to approach the Crown Prince. This is the kind of slow-burn betrayal reveal that makes rebirth novels actually worth reading. The author doesn't just say "your friend betrayed you" — they make you live through the protagonist's dawning realization, watching her connect dots that were always there. And the meta-layer? Qiao Shilian had already refused the Crown Prince a month ago because of Fang Yaoyao, and now she needs to reverse that decision to get to the hunt herself. She's essentially undoing the consequences of her past-life trust, and the mechanism is clever — she can't just tell the Crown Prince, she has to work through her brother and keep it secret from the Eastern Palace because there's an insider. The plot is doing a lot of heavy lifting here: revenge, strategy, information control, all wrapped in one decision.

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N0tAWriter5v7 Review ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ August 9,2025

The opening of this section is brutal. Qiao Shilian dreaming that she's still a wandering spirit, 'thousands condemning and slandering her,' completely isolated — it's not just a nightmare, it's her deepest fear made manifest. The author describes her waking up drenched in cold sweat, reaching toward the lantern light 'repeatedly confirming whether she was human or ghost.' That image of her hand casting a shadow over her eyes, trying to prove she exists... chills. Actual chills. Then the tone pivots so sharply. She finds the dart with the message, and suddenly we're in this quiet, intimate moment — moonlight, flickering candlelight, the sharp handwriting. The contrast between the claustrophobic nightmare and the expansive night sky is deliberate. Later, at Mount Jiunu, the description shifts again: 'deep, ink-like shades of green,' cicadas singing, misty peaks and drifting clouds. The forest hunt setting feels alive — it's not just a backdrop, it's a character in itself. The imperial procession, the nobility, the Qiao family standing out 'little among them' — you can feel the scale of this world. And then Qiao Shilian, alone in her carriage with the partially drawn curtain filtering 'intermittent streams of daylight,' finally getting a moment of peace after days of sleepless anxiety. The author uses light and shadow so effectively throughout this section — candlelight, moonlight, filtered daylight — it creates this constant sense of things being half-revealed, half-hidden, which perfectly mirrors the plot.

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ScarlettYgddrasil Review ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ August 20,2025

Okay so let me just— the plot structure here is absolutely brutal and I love it. The way the author lays out Qiao Shilian's realization scene by scene is chef's kiss. She pieces together that Fang Yaoyao stole Qin Shuo's robes, that the incense, the guard, the crowd—all of it was staged. And then the Crown Prince himself is the final link because he won't testify for her since he's covering his own affair. That's when it all clicks. The chain of betrayal is so tight, every link connects perfectly. But then the death scene hits and I was not ready. Qin Shuo receiving that message from the Prime Minister's residence—his whole body goes rigid, and you can just feel him connecting the dots. Qiao Qingsong's parting words, his own veiled hints about weighing imperial authority over personal matters... he realizes HE killed her. Not directly, but his silence was the death warrant. And the worst part? He knows he won't investigate. Even though she was someone he once doted on, imperial power comes first. The plot doesn't let up for a single second. Then Su Zhuoguang appears in the rain finding her corpse and the scene shifts entirely. And the rebirth twist at the end—she's back at the banquet, alive again, six years old body but her mind is fully there. The narrative arc from death to rebirth is set up so cleanly. The author is clearly building toward revenge and I am HERE for it.

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