Light Boat, Dewy Lotus

**

Jin Ninghe was never loved by her father, because she was born to a woman from a brothel.

She was not brought into the Jin household until she was seven, after her mother was granted a place in the family at the urging of the Old Madam Jin. There, she became the Jin family’s Fifth Young Lady.

Though she bore the title of Fifth Young Lady, she was little more than a maid following the First and Second Young Ladies around.

**

At seventeen, after attending a few banquets, Jin Ninghe found herself the subject of countless stares.

Only when several spoiled young men made lewd remarks about her did she realize that, ever since she had begun to develop, her mother had never taught her to bind her chest.

As a result, her small, hill-like curves were unlike those of the other young ladies. Together with her bewitching beauty, they made her stand out in any crowd.

Rumors that Jin Ninghe was a foxlike seductress spread ever wider. People said she had no sense of propriety and had learned all her mother's brothel ways.

**

Pei Qingzhou was as refined as an orchid and as handsome as a jade tree, the ideal husband every noble young lady in the capital wanted. But it was only at sixteen that Pei Qingzhou first learned what it meant to fall in love.

At first, he was drawn in by her poetry. Her style was utterly unlike that of other women: she had a bold beauty, yet a reserved and modest nature.

The more curious he grew, the more helplessly he fell. At first, Pei Qingzhou could still remember the rules his family had taught him, but before long, he could no longer recall them at all.

Everyone said Pei Qingzhou was no different from other men, but only he knew why he loved her.