[Impostor stand-in + regret and redemption + love rivals + second male lead wins + household intrigue]
"A-Tang, when I return victorious, I'll marry you with a grand procession and ten miles of bridal gifts."
Someone once made her a passionate promise of a lifetime together.
Sadly, she would never live to see it fulfilled.
Xue Yitang took her stepsister's place in marrying into the Marquis's household, only to be neglected by her husband on their wedding night.
Worse, when he was drunk, he held her face in his hands and called her by his mistress's pet name.
From then on, she shut away her heart and focused on playing the role of the marquis's wife. She kept the sprawling estate in perfect order, went to great lengths to win her mother-in-law's favor, and tirelessly sewed her husband an intimate sachet…
Xiao Qiyan naturally assumed she loved him, until one day his mistress, visibly pregnant, knocked on the marquis's door. Startled, he anxiously looked to see her reaction, only to find a silence as still as death.
Shouldn't she be angry? Shouldn't she be disappointed? Xiao Qiyan couldn't understand.
Later, good news came from the court: a general who had been missing for three years was returning to the capital from the border with his personal troops.
At court, he unexpectedly spotted a familiar-looking sachet hanging from the waist of the armored general…
I'm so pissed off, this Marquis is too weak.