The Wife Comes First vol. 2 by Lv Ye Qian He: review

5/5 stars on Goodreads

The Wife Comes First vol. 2 by Lv Ye Qian He

In the second volume, the reincarnated prince Jing Shao sets out to handle war campaigns that almost cost him his life the first time round. And now the war has come years earlier, so he can’t be sure it goes the way he remembers. But this time, he has his gentleman wife, Mu Hanzhang, with him as a strategist, keeping their marriage a secret from everyone.

From the start, things go differently. Mu Hanzhang uncovers a large case of embezzlement that had led to Jing Shao’s downfall in his first life. And Jing Shao is able to recruit a warrior that almost singlehandedly turns some battles for him. The war proceeds fast and the prince is victorious. But he can’t afford to give the emperor a notion that he’ll use his success as an attempt to usurp the throne. So it’s time to strategize with the knowledge he has from his first life. But Mu Hanzhang is starting to become suspicious of his knowledge.

Jing Shao’s generals are impressed with Mu Hanzhang, but they’re wondering why the prince spends his nights at the strategist’s tent. There are some comedic moments as the couple tries to keep their relationship secret and the generals try to uncover things. There are plenty of bedroom moments for everyone to realise what’s going on. There’s also a cute tiger cub Mu Hanzhang adopts that adds to the sweetness, though they could treat him a bit better.

This was a good volume. It’s fast-paced and well-written, and there’s plenty of action. The battle scenes are especially good and not too drawn out. Jing Shao and Mu Hanzhang are very much in love, so the romance doesn’t bring tension to the story. The volume ends at a tiny cliffhanger, but I doubt anything comes of it either. Overall, despite all the wars, the stakes remain pretty low and conflicts are handled fairly easily. A lovely low-angst read.