The Cousin Lady Is Marrying Someone Else, and the Cold Heir Finally Breaks

Novel Info

Author:
一笙向財
Status:Ongoing

Summary

Ji Mingzhu, daughter of a deceased general, was reborn at a family banquet celebrating Xie Yunzheng's military triumph. Having lived through a painful past life where she married Xie Yunzheng only to die alone during difficult labor while he accompanied his beloved Du Peilan, she resolves to avoid him entirely in this second chance. After spilling wine on herself and retreating to her quarters, she collides with Xie Yunzheng in a corridor, but maintains distance despite his momentary curiosity about her.

Plagued by a fever and emotional turmoil from her rebirth, Ji Mingzhu falls ill for three days. Doctor Xi Yu diagnoses her with a heartfelt ailment caused by pent-up melancholy, recommending she travel to broaden her horizons. Madam Guan, her protector and the Xie family's Second Madam, arranges for Ji Mingzhu to accompany her son Xie Yunxuan to Yangzhou after the New Year. Xie Yunxuan, warm and caring, brings her a luminous pearl that reminds her of how many people cherished her, deepening her resolve not to repeat past mistakes with Xie Yunzheng.

Meanwhile, Xie Yunzheng remains indifferent to marriage portraits his mother Princess Anhe selects for him, burning them secretly. When Ji Mingzhu sends scholar's treasures as thanks for the medical care, he dismisses the gift to a servant. The Old Matriarch summons Ji Mingzhu to Hewutang, where she and Princess Anhe openly discuss selecting wives for both Xie brothers from noble families, subtly warning Ji Mingzhu to know her place. They publicly humiliate her by asking her to choose from lists of eligible ladies, revealing their belief that she might scheme for position.

During this audience, Ji Mingzhu tears up from the humiliation. Xie Yunzheng, who had entered Hewutang, witnesses her distress and feels an inexplicable tightness in his chest before leaving abruptly. Later, he confides in Xi Yu about strange emotional reactions around Ji Mingzhu, wondering if he has been bewitched by Zhonggu. Xi Yu suggests he has simply fallen in love, but Xie Yunzheng denies this, concluding he must either stay away from her or arrange her marriage to someone else to break his own emotional disturbance.

Xie Yunxuan, deeply troubled by Ji Mingzhu's desire to marry and leave, confesses his confusion to his elder brother. He reveals he cannot bear the thought of her marrying another man, though he fears confessing his true feelings would destroy their sibling relationship. Drunk and distressed, he murmurs Ji Mingzhu's name. Xie Yunzheng, irritated by his brother's state and his own growing fixation on Ji Mingzhu, orders Tianshui to summon the young mistress, unable to explain his own contradictory impulses regarding the woman he claims not to care about.

Novel Items

Contraceptive soup

Pills

A bowl of contraceptive soup that Murong Yao gives Xiao Changning every time they are intimate, preventing her from becoming pregnant. The reason for this is kept secret by Murong Yao.

Prescription for melancholy

Elixir

Medicine prescribed by Xi Yu for Ji Mingzhu's heartfelt ailment caused by pent-up melancholy and intense emotional fluctuations. Xi Yu also offered several methods to alleviate her sorrow, including going out for a stroll, noting that the high walls of noble households trap people in confined spaces making them prone to illness.

Chest wound

Item

Xie Yunzheng's deep wound from being stabbed in the chest by an enemy general during the battlefield campaign. The wound was still not healed when he returned to the manor. He was tending to it himself with gauze when the report about Ji Mingzhu's illness arrived.

White fox-fur muffler

Item

A white fox-fur muffler wrapped around Ji Mingzhu's slender neck during the banquet. Part of her fine winter attire that included pearls and emeralds in her hair and teardrop-shaped white jade earrings.

Luminous Night Pearl

Treasure

A shimmering pearl with flowing light brought by Xie Yunxuan as a gift for Ji Mingzhu. He said 'A pearl for Mingzhu—the moment I saw it, I felt it suited you. Both are treasures held in the palm.' In her past life, he had said the same thing, which moved Ji Mingzhu to tears.

Four treasures of the study

Writing Instruments

Traditional Chinese writing tools including a paperweight and brushes that Leng Yaoda used to write her memory review notes. She arranged them on the table guided by muscle memory.

Latest Release

Date	Group	Release
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
2026-08-11	shanghai fantasy	c3
2026-08-11	shanghai fantasy	c2
2026-08-11	shanghai fantasy	c1

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Popular reviews

CarlGagnon_ Review ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ July 7,2025

This chapter is absolutely dripping with thematic depth and I'm not even sure the author realizes how much she's layered here. The central metaphor of Zhonggu — a love spell — is doing so much heavy lifting. Xie Yunzheng genuinely believes he's been bewitched rather than accept that he might have real feelings, and this speaks to the novel's broader theme about emotional vulnerability being treated as a disease. His mother went mad from romantic betrayal, so he's decided that all affection is poison. But the irony is that he's the one who can't control his reactions, not Ji Mingzhu. Then there's the theme of performance — the Junzhu's entire existence is acting. She performs affection ('auntie'), she performs concern ('which young lady would be suitable'), she performs kindness to the Old Matriarch. Ji Mingzhu has learned to perform too, but hers is a performance of survival, not manipulation. The repeated imagery of cold versus warmth is also significant — Xie Yunzheng's cold aura, the winter setting, the cold wind he stirs — all contrasted with the warmth of Xie Yunxuan's genuine care. And the Dowry chests the Old Matriarch mentions? That's not generosity, that's a price tag. Ji Mingzhu is being evaluated like merchandise. The novel keeps asking: what is more dehumanizing — being spellbound by love, or being trapped in a world where every relationship is transactional?

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Daoaowao Review ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ January 4,2026

I need to talk about Xie Yunxuan because this man is genuinely the sweetest thing in this entire novel and it hurts my heart that he's not the love interest. When he sees Ji Mingzhu and immediately notices she's been crying — 'You've been crying' — with this raw distress in his eyes, and he instinctively reaches out to wipe her tears? I literally squealed. And then Xie Yunzheng shows up and ruins it with his jealousy. The scene where the two brothers are standing in the snow and Ji Mingzhu chooses to walk away with Xie Yunxuan, telling him 'If I trip, so be it. It won't kill me. I'll just get back up!' — this is the most alive she's been in the entire chapter. With Xie Yunxuan she's genuine, she's sarcastic, she's herself. With Xie Yunzheng she's performing, she's guarded, she's the perfect orphan cousin everyone expects her to be. And the most heartbreaking part? Xie Yunzheng is watching her leave with his brother and instead of feeling sad, his 'stagnant heart now beat joyfully' at the sight of her glaring at him. She's finally showing him emotion instead of that blank indifference, and he's interpreting it as progress. Meanwhile Xie Yunxuan is the one who actually cares and gets nothing but polite distance. The CP energy between Ji Mingzhu and Xie Yunxuan is so natural and warm compared to the toxic push-pull with Xie Yunzheng. I'm not even mad about it, I'm just emotionally compromised.

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MarcosSouza4834 Review ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ November 20,2025

The opening image of this chapter is just *cinematic*. Ji Mingzhu standing at the doorway braving the cold wind, her nose bright red from the chill, eyes slightly reddened — you can literally feel the temperature dropping just reading it. And then Xie Yunzheng strides past her 'stirring a gust of cold wind.' The author doesn't even need to describe the mansion's opulence or the winter landscape explicitly; the cold becomes this atmospheric character itself. It mirrors the emotional temperature of every interaction in this story. Then you have the interior scene — the Old Matriarch's courtyard, the tea service, the list of eligible young ladies being passed around like Ji Mingzhu is an object to be discussed. The contrast between the biting cold outside and the suffocating warmth inside is brilliant. And later, Xie Yunzheng kicking snow after Ji Mingzhu walks away with his brother — this small, almost childish gesture of frustration says everything about his internal state. The author has this incredible ability to use environmental details to externalize what characters can't say. The plum blossoms mentioned at the end, the snow, the cold wind — it's all part of this winter atmosphere that makes the whole Xie household feel like a gilded cage. Every scene is so visually precise I could film it.

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GTOKA Review ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ June 19,2025

Let me talk about the structural genius here. Chapter 10 opens with Xie Yunzheng and Xi Yu having this tense conversation where Xi Yu drops the bomb that Xie Yunzheng has fallen for Ji Mingzhu—and Xie Yunzheng's reaction is to deny it so hard he decides the only solution is to marry her off to someone else. That's a fantastic pivot. Then the scene shifts to Xie Yunxuan escorting Mingzhu back, and the pacing slows down into something more intimate and aching. The author does this really clever thing where they let the emotional beats breathe—Xie Yunxuan following her into the room forgetting to remove his cloak, the silence between them, the way he asks about her marriage plans with this urgency she doesn't notice. Then just when you think the chapter might drag, BAM—Xie Yunxuan gets drunk and murmurs her name, and Xie Yunzheng, who just heard this news, summons Tianshui to invite the young mistress. The chapter ends on this note of impending confrontation. Three acts of emotional escalation in one chapter, and the transitions are seamless. I read all five chapters in one sitting and I don't even usually do that.

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Lucipherion0966 Review ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ August 22,2025

There's something really striking about how the author uses cold and warmth as emotional barometers throughout these chapters. Xie Yunxuan doesn't even step into the room because he's afraid of bringing the cold air in with his snow-dusted cloak—he's protecting HER comfort while his own heart is freezing over. That detail alone says everything. Then there's the contrast of the warm chamber inside Xiaoxiangyuan, where Ji Mingzhu retreats to practice calligraphy, a habit from her previous life when Xie Yunzheng neglected her. The physical spaces feel so alive here—the frostbitten eggplant description of Xie Yunxuan after his visit, the tea cups being set down, the wine being poured. The aristocratic setting isn't just backdrop; it's pressing down on these characters at every turn. The Old Matriarch and Junzhu Niangniang orchestrating marriages from above like puppeteers creates this suffocating atmosphere where young people's lives are being decided without their consent. It's a world that feels real and lived-in, and the cold Beijing winter mirrors the emotional temperature of every interaction.

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Ussop Review ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ February 21,2026

Okay so let me just say this about Xie Yunzheng — the man is a walking contradiction and it is absolutely delicious. He tells himself romantic affection is poison because his mother went mad when his father took a concubine, right? He's built this entire fortress of emotional repression and yet here he is, losing his absolute mind over Ji Mingzhu. The scene where he sees Xie Yunxuan about to touch her face and this wave of pure possessive rage just hits him — 'No other man should touch Ji Mingzhu, not even his own brother!' — and then he has NO IDEA why he feels this way. He literally asks his doctor if someone cast Zhonggu (love spell) on him. BRO. YOU ARE THE ONE WHO GOT SPELLBOUND, NOT HER. The fact that he can't even recognize his own emotions is the best character writing I've seen in ages. And Ji Mingzhu? She's completely different from her past life self. In her previous existence she was obsessed with him, but now? She's cold, composed, and honestly kind of fascinating to watch. She doesn't even flinch when the Old Matriarch and Junzhu publicly humiliate her. She just sits there, calm as a lake, while they try to force her into some narrative of scheming seductress. The only crack in her armor is when Xie Yunzheng sees her eyes glistening — and even then, she's crying from humiliation, not from any lingering feelings for him. That contrast between who she WAS and who she IS now? Chef's kiss.

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