Has the Grand Secretary Begged for Forgiveness Today?

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Novel Info

Author:
明月落枝
Status:Ongoing

Summary

[Peerlessly Beautiful Female Lead + Male Competition + Ex-Husband Groveling for Forgiveness + Traditional Historical Inner-Mansion Intrigue]

A live-action short drama is available for pre-order on Hongguo, a live-action audio drama has been released, and a motion comic is in production. Please go and show your support!

Xue Ning’s entire family died in battle. Growing up in the Xuanyi Marquis Mansion, she deeply admired Su Zhan, the marquis’s heir and her childhood sweetheart.

With a cup of drugged Spring Wine, she got her wish and became his wife.

Later, Su Zhan became the Grand Secretary of the Inner Cabinet, wielding immense power.

The two were as respectful to each other as strangers, once considered a rare and beautiful love story in Dongjing City.

Everyone said it was the greatest honor for an orphan like her to marry up to the Grand Secretary.

Only she knew how she endured those countless nights, as lonely as still water.

He had a “white moonlight” in his heart—someone he loved but could not have—and had never loved her.

He even held her in contempt for the way she had offered herself to him.

And so, she was abandoned by him at the old family estate in the countryside for five years.

She sent letter after letter to their home in the capital, but never received a reply.

Forlorn and helpless, she was killed in a fire, dying with a heart full of resentment.

…

After her rebirth, the first thing Xue Ning did was knock over the cup of Spring Wine meant for Su Zhan.

Then, she carefully chose a fiancé for herself.

At a family banquet, with all their relatives gathered, Xue Ning took her fiancé’s arm and walked up to Su Zhan. “Grand Secretary, this is my fiancé. Please remember to promote him.”

The Grand Secretary, who had always been cold and self-possessed, was suddenly consumed by regret. With reddened eyes, he cried, “Xue Ning, it was me… I met you first!”

Novel Items

Letter of Separation

Document

A document Su Zhan sent to Xue Ning requesting separation. In her previous life, the old women from Dongjing brought a thick stack of her family letters back along with this Letter of Separation, demanding she sign it. She refused, leading to her being bound and burned alive.

Spring Wine

Wine

In the previous life, this wine was drugged with an aphrodisiac that Xue Ning bought from a brothel at great expense. It was said that once consumed, not even ten bulls could hold a man back, and he had to be with a woman to neutralize the poison. Xue Ning had Bao Chan slip it into Su Zhan's wine, which led to their forced marriage.

Aphrodisiac Drug

Drug

A potent drug purchased from a brothel by Xue Ning in her previous life. Once a man consumed it, he could not resist and had to be with a woman to neutralize the poison. Xue Ning intended to use it on Su Zhan again upon rebirth but instead prevented him from drinking the drugged wine.

Yangchun noodles

Food

Noodles cooked by Haitang for Yang Xichen upon his return, filled with scallion oil and soy sauce aroma. Served in a large bowl.

Wine Pot

Item

A wine pot containing the drugged wine that Xue Ning had previously arranged to be given to Su Zhan. After rebirth, she took the wine pot away after the banquet and poured out all the wine into a secluded spot near Mirror Lake, washing it clean to leave no trace of evidence.

Storax

Fragrance

A cold fragrance that mixes with the smell of blood from the Ministry of Justice dungeons, carried by Su Zhan. It is described as utterly terrifying to Xue Ning.

Latest Release

Date	Group	Release
2026-08-11	shanghai fantasy	c200
2026-08-11	shanghai fantasy	c199
2026-08-11	shanghai fantasy	c198
2026-08-11	shanghai fantasy	c197
2026-08-11	shanghai fantasy	c196
2026-08-11	shanghai fantasy	c195
2026-08-11	shanghai fantasy	c194
2026-08-11	shanghai fantasy	c193
2026-08-11	shanghai fantasy	c192
2026-08-11	shanghai fantasy	c191
2026-08-11	shanghai fantasy	c190
2026-08-11	shanghai fantasy	c189

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Popular reviews

NoveListsArts Review ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ July 11,2025

Okay so let me just say this temple trip is such a brilliant narrative pivot. On the surface it's just a young lady going to pray for her parents, but the author is layering so much tension underneath. Xue Ning's past life trauma—the fire at Zhenguo Temple that burned her family's memorial tablets—is the ghost haunting this entire scene. She's determined to go this time, to reclaim something she lost, and that determination drives the whole chapter forward. But here's what really got me: the author sets up this parallel encounter. Xue Ning arrives first, quietly mourning, and then Su Zhan shows up with his friend. The carriage at the roadside, the driver's report, Su Zhan's cold reaction—he thinks she's following him, that she's being indiscreet. The dramatic irony is absolutely delicious because we know she's here for her parents, not for him. And yet Su Zhan's assumption that she's chasing after him reveals everything about how he sees her. The subplot with Su Qing and Princess Xiuning meeting is also cooking in the background. Xue Ning dismisses it as 'just trying to harm me,' but the reader knows these schemes are going to collide. The author is threading multiple plotlines together like a noose tightening.

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Fallen_Angel_268C Review ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ September 12,2025

Okay, I need to just sit with this for a second because Xue Ning's move in the final scene is either the smartest thing she's ever done or the most unhinged, and I can't decide which. So Su Qing is going full villain mode, dragging Xue Ning's reputation through the mud, saying she's lost her purity because she fell in water and was rescued by a man, and the whole family is just sitting there waiting for her to crumble. And what does Xue Ning do? She looks at the old matriarch and says, essentially: if my reputation is so ruined, then I should marry the person who 'ruined' it. That is Su Zhan. That is the man who literally just accused her of scheming two chapters ago. The plot twist here isn't just the shock value — though everyone's faces absolutely deserve to be painted right now — it's that Xue Ning is weaponizing the very logic that's being used to destroy her. She's taking the patriarchal rule that a tainted woman has only one option and pointing it directly at the most powerful, dangerous man in the room. Is this a genuine marriage proposal? Probably not. Is it a tactical nuke against everyone in that hall? Absolutely. The narrative is setting up this brilliant contradiction where the woman who has spent her whole life trying to escape Su Zhan now publicly binds herself to him as a defense strategy. And Su Zhan? He hasn't said a word through this entire interrogation. I'm dying to know what his reaction is going to be when he processes that his 'sister' just claimed him as her husband in front of the entire family. This plot is moving so fast and I am here for it.

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assassin101 Review ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ October 11,2025

Okay, I need to talk about this one scene because it literally wrecked me. When Su Zhan shows up and immediately assumes she's lying again—"Since childhood, you've always been a liar"—and Xue Ning just stands there in the snow with her heart basically shattering into a million pieces? I wanted to shake him. But what hit me even harder was what happened AFTER that. When she says she wants to stay at the temple to be with her parents, and Su Zhan gets annoyed because he expected her to beg him to stay? That's when it clicked for me. She's not playing games anymore. In her past life, she would've thrown herself at his feet. Now? She just says "as you wish" and means it. The line that got me was when she thought to herself: "In the past, she had always longed to be with him, but now every moment spent in his company felt unbearable." That's not just a shift in feelings—that's a complete emotional transformation. The tragedy is that Su Zhan still doesn't get it. He thinks she's throwing a tantrum. He has no idea she's finally free. And the worst part? He's the one who made her this way. Every time he dismissed her, accused her, looked at her like she was nothing— he pushed her further away until there was nothing left to hold onto. I'm genuinely terrified for him because I know what's coming, and he has no idea what he's about to lose.

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MelshanzpT Review ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ April 27,2026

The dialogue in these chapters is sharp enough to cut glass. Let me give you some examples because I'm still recovering. Su Zhan: "Since childhood, you've always been a liar." — cold, dismissive, and absolutely devastating coming from someone who should know better. Xue Ning: "Brother Lu, as you wish." — three words that carry the weight of an entire relationship ending. She used to beg. Now she complies. The difference is everything. Su Zhan: "Xue Ning, what are you throwing a tantrum about now?" — he still doesn't understand. He genuinely thinks she's being difficult. This is the tragedy of their entire dynamic. Xue Ning: "A-Ning is not alone. I have Nanny Hao and Bao Chan with me. Madam Jiang has also assigned guards to me. Brother Lu need not worry about my safety." — oh, this line is PERFECTION. She's not being sharp-tongued out of spite; she's being precise. She's drawing a boundary. And Su Zhan's reaction—"How come I never noticed before that you were so sharp-tongued?"—shows he's completely misreading the situation again. And then there's Bao Chan, who serves as this perfect foil. Her dialogue is more natural, more emotional, more honest. When she says "Of course, Young Miss should fight back," it's simple but it captures everything Xue Ning has been too afraid to say. The contrast between Bao Chan's directness and Xue Ning's carefully measured responses really highlights how much Xue Ning has suppressed herself over the years. The author gives each character a distinct voice, and it's not just about what they say—it's about what they can't bring themselves to say.

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GreenBlue17 Review ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ March 2,2025

I need to talk about Su Zhan because this chapter gives us SO MUCH of him and I'm not okay. The way he pulls Xue Ning closer by the waist—it's such a Su Zhan move. Physical, commanding, almost careless. But then the text says something that hit me hard: 'when not acting as her husband, he harbored no particular malice toward her—one could even say he doted on her as much as he did Aman.' Doted. On HER. Before everything went wrong. And now? Now he's cold. 'Since when did you decide to be my sister?' That line—chilling. He's hurt, obviously, and he's punishing her with distance. But I also caught something else. When Xue Ning leaves and he watches her go? 'Su Zhan silently raised his cold eyes.' The word 'silently' matters. He doesn't call her back. He doesn't show he cares. But he WATCHES. Then Xie Ningtang comes in and suddenly he's teaching her calligraphy, being patient, gentle. The contrast is brutal. Xue Ning notices it too—'faint traces of Su Zhan's doting affection toward Xie Ningtang audible.' She hears it from outside. Ouch. But here's what I can't stop thinking about: in their past life, after marriage, they HAD intimacy. He was passionate, possessive, 'trying to meld her into his very bones and blood.' And now she FLINCHES when he touches her. That's the tragedy of this relationship. They both loved each other once—however complicated it was—and now they're strangers who share a history neither knows how to navigate.

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WeiNuan Review ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ March 5,2026

I have to be honest—I read the scene where Xue Ning catches Su Zhan's scent and her mind goes to THAT night and I literally had to pause. The writing is so visceral. 'His powerful chest pressing against her soft body.' 'He moved rhythmically above her, as if trying to meld her into his very bones and blood.' This isn't just a romance beat. This is trauma and desire tangled together, and the author doesn't shy away from it. Xue Ning's reaction is everything—she's ashamed, she's frightened, she's still physically affected despite herself. Her brush pauses. Her face flushes. She scolds herself for thinking such things 'before the Buddha.' The guilt is palpable. But what broke my heart was what came after. She escapes into the snow to 'cool off,' and Bao Chan wraps the fox fur cloak around her shoulders. And Xue Ning says: 'You're right. I should be kinder to myself.' KINDER TO MYSELF. After a lifetime of wanting a man who couldn't want her back, after dying and coming back to this moment, she's finally choosing herself. That line hit me like a truck. She's not just surviving her second life—she's learning to exist in it without self-annihilation. And yet. And YET. When she hears Su Zhan being sweet to Xie Ningtang from outside, 'her internal organs were twisting into knots.' She's growing, yes, but the old wounds haven't healed. The love hasn't just disappeared. It's still there, buried under layers of resentment and fear and survival instinct.

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