Sunken Lotus

Chu Lianxin is the most perfect young lady from a noble family in the capital.

Elegant, gentle, and refined, she's said to be such a blessing to marry that anyone who wins her hand must have earned it over several lifetimes.

No one knows that she keeps a man in a country estate outside the city.

He is a down-on-his-luck scholar who sold himself to pay for his parents' funeral. He has a strikingly aloof and otherworldly appearance, with the stubborn pride peculiar to men of letters.

She gave his mother a lavish funeral, provided him with food, clothing, and everything he needed, and bought him brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones.

He told her he owed her his life, and that he would never betray her, in this life or the next.

Chu Lianxin merely smiled.