Shen Zhiwei is the daughter of a refined, high-ranking official. At sixteen, she marries into the Yongchang Marquis household and becomes the wife of Xie Wei, a frail marquis.
Outsiders think she has married above her station, but in truth she has stepped into a gilded cage:
• Her domineering mother-in-law has controlled the household accounts for years and refuses to relinquish power.
• The concubines and illegitimate sons each have their own schemes, all coveting the title in secret.
• Xie Wei has been ill for years and has made countless enemies at court. He could fall from power at any moment.
On their wedding night, Xie Wei takes her hand and says softly, “This marquis’s residence is a grave. Anyone who enters will never leave with their hands clean.”
Shen Zhiwei merely smiles faintly. “Then I shall be the one who keeps the lamp lit in this grave.”
From then on, she grows step by step from a cautious young wife into the true mistress of the marquis household, wielding influence over the court.
