After Rebirth, My Deceased Husband and Ex-Husband Got into a Fight

Gan Cai'er, once known as the Empty-headed Beauty of Jingdu, lived a tragic final chapter in her previous life. After her husband, Lan Tingzhou, was posthumously honored as the Weiguo Duke, she was driven out of the mansion by a scheming rival. For four years, she lived in destitution in the southern slums, secretly visiting her son and daughter through a doggy door in the estate wall. On the night of her death, a blizzard buried her in the snow. Coincidentally, on that same day, Lan Tingzhou returned from a feigned death mission, alive and restored to glory. Gan Cai'er awoke to find herself reborn twelve years earlier, back in her youth in Qingshui Town, just six months after marrying Lan Tingzhou. She retained all memories of her past suffering and resolved to change her fate.

In this second life, Gan Cai'er recognized that her past behavior—drugging Lan Tingzhou, clinging to him obsessively, and neglecting his academic ambitions—had been the root of their misery. Lan Tingzhou, though physically intimate with her, harbored deep resentment toward the forced marriage and viewed her as crude and unworthy. His true intellectual and emotional match was Shen Yunxi, a noble lady from Jingdu. Determined to repay Lan Tingzhou for his past kindness and to secure a better future for her children, Gan Cai'er decided to let him go. She prioritized his success in the imperial examinations over her own selfish desires, aiming to remove the obstacles that had previously derailed his career.

The core conflict centered on Lan Tingzhou's academic path. In her previous life, he had been accused of falsifying his Academy credentials shortly before the Provincial Examination, an incident that haunted him for years. To prevent this, Gan Cai'er sought admission to Luming Academy in Danzhou, the most prestigious institution in the region. This required a recommendation from a Jinshi-ranked scholar, a connection she lacked in their remote town. Leveraging her stepmother Wei Yulan's extensive network from her years in the pleasure quarters, Gan Cai'er secured an invitation to a high-society banquet where officials from Jingdu would be present. Her goal was to find a suitable sponsor for Lan Tingzhou.

As Gan Cai'er worked to facilitate Lan Tingzhou's departure for Danzhou, he received news that his childhood friend Lu Qingning was accompanying a Hanlin Academy official to the region. Lan Tingzhou planned to travel to Danzhou to meet Lu Qingning, a trip that required careful explanation to his watchful wife. Meanwhile, Gan Cai'er's relationship with her family deepened; she reconnected with her father, stepmother, and brothers, finding solace in their love. She also mended her rivalry-turned-friendship with Zhu Xiaoxiao, vowing to protect her friend from the abusive marriage that had destroyed her in the past life. Gan Cai'er began learning business management from Wei Yulan, aiming to secure financial independence and prevent the poverty that had plagued her in her first life.

The narrative trajectory shifted from Gan Cai'er's desperate pursuit of Lan Tingzhou's affection to a strategic partnership focused on his rise. She abandoned her previous tactics of seduction and control, instead adopting a respectful distance. Lan Tingzhou, noticing her sudden change in demeanor and her support for his education, grew curious about her motivations. The story moves toward Lan Tingzhou's journey to Danzhou, where he will navigate academic politics and potentially encounter Shen Yunxi, while Gan Cai'er manages the household and prepares for the social challenges ahead. Her ultimate goal is to ensure Lan Tingzhou achieves his full potential, even if it means losing him to another woman, thereby breaking the cycle of tragedy that defined their previous existence.