[Daughter of a distinguished military family x a live-in son-in-law who plays the fool while hiding his true strength]
The late emperor arranged a marriage between the heir to the Prince of Cheng's title and Murong Jin, the legitimate daughter of the Duke Who Guards the Nation.
They were a perfect match, but then the duke and his heir were killed in battle, leaving an army of three hundred thousand without a leader.
On the eve of the wedding, the heir to the Prince of Cheng's title secretly slept with Murong Jin's half-sister, who was carrying his child. On the day of the funeral, he blocked the procession, hoping to humiliate Murong Jin and force her to back down.
Holding the memorial tablet, Murong Jin casually swung her sword, slicing through the outer robes of both her half-sister and the heir.
Word that the half-sister and the heir had been caught without their underclothes spread through every street and alley.
The Prince of Cheng tried to have her punished, but she took the matter straight to the emperor first.
To her surprise, the emperor issued an edict ordering her to choose another suitable husband to marry into her family. They were to wed within a hundred days, have a son to inherit the duke's title, and lead the three hundred thousand troops!
The circumstances of her father and brother's deaths were suspicious, and the truth remained unknown. She couldn't trust the man the emperor chose for her.
As she searched for a suitable man to marry into her family, a frail-looking yet handsome man with seemingly no ambition caught her eye.
She thought he was merely the son of an ordinary merchant. It wasn't until the heir to the Prince of Cheng's title greeted him deferentially that she realized he had planned to marry into the duke's family for a long time.
She held a sword to his throat, her gaze icy. “Husband, what are you plotting?”
Xie Anlan coughed delicately, looking too weak to care for himself. “Does making my way up through our son count? General, please don't divorce me.”
He had seen through her plan to keep the child and get rid of the father long ago, but he couldn't let her know what he was really plotting.
As the truth came to light, it seemed that some things weren't what they appeared to be!
Had she trusted the wrong person, or was he simply that good at playing his hand?
Well written, tight paced and detailed characters