The Widowed Fiancée, But Everyone Is Obsessed

Nan Liujing is a young woman of fragile health and enigmatic origins, currently living as the fifth daughter of the declining Nan family in the capital of Jiandu. She is engaged to Pei Liuyu, the gentle and naive seventh son of the powerful Pei clan, who rescued her two years prior after she was found gravely injured in the wilderness with no memory of her past. While Pei Liuyu believes she is a victim of circumstance, Nan Liujing harbors a dark secret: she is actually Liu Tao, a former "Medicine Slave" of the reclusive and sinister Xi family, a clan of state preceptors who experimented on slaves by feeding them alternating poisons and antidotes to create living antidotes. Her current frailty is the result of this lifelong poisoning, and she relies on the wandering physician Jiang Ziliu to manage the toxins in her body.

The central conflict arises from the return of Pei Liuyu’s elder brother, Pei Songjun, the current head of the Pei family. Pei Songjun is a cold, calculating, and ruthless figure who recognizes Nan Liujing not as the frail Nan Liujing, but as Liu Tao, the maid who once attempted to poison him with "Xuhou Wine" during a banquet years ago. In her dream-like memory, Nan Liujing had forced the wine down his throat to save herself and other maids from execution, an act of defiance that Pei Songjun has never forgotten. Upon her return, he confronts her privately, revealing that he knows her true identity and demanding she sever all ties with Pei Liuyu, threatening to expose her criminal past if she insists on the marriage.

Simultaneously, Nan Liujing finds herself entangled with Xiao Lingguang, the formidable eldest master of the Xiao family and a hero of the recent rebellion. Xiao Lingguang is initially hostile toward her, viewing her as an intruder and a threat to his friend Pei Liuyu. However, after saving her from assassins in the southern city, a complex dynamic emerges between them. Xiao Lingguang is fiercely protective yet emotionally distant, harboring his own painful history regarding love and betrayal. He warns Nan Liujing that Pei Songjun is dangerous and that her presence threatens to destabilize the delicate peace Pei Liuyu has fought to maintain.

The narrative deepens as Nan Liujing discovers that her life is in constant jeopardy from multiple sides. The Xi family, her former masters, are hunting for her escape, and Jiang Ziliu is attacked while searching for a rare herb called Jade Marrow Grass, the only known cure for her poisoning. The herb is held by the Imperial Medical Bureau, placing her survival in the hands of the very political powers that oppose her. Meanwhile, Princess Shou’an, Helan Ying, a rival noblewoman with designs on Pei Liuyu, orchestrates public humiliations and schemes to drive a wedge between Nan Liujing and her fiancé, exploiting the rumors surrounding Nan Liujing’s dubious background.

As the story progresses, Nan Liujing is forced to navigate a treacherous web of court politics, familial duty, and hidden identities. She must conceal her past from Pei Liuyu to protect his innocence and her own life, while simultaneously dealing with Pei Songjun’s psychological warfare and Xiao Lingguang’s volatile protection. The core tension lies in her struggle to survive her poisoning and the relentless pursuit of her past, all while the marriage to Pei Liuyu hangs by a thread, threatened by the ruthless authority of Pei Songjun and the dangerous secrets of the Xi clan that refuse to stay buried.