“Elder Sister, I’ll gladly take your dowry, your betrothal, and the honor of being the Duke’s daughter. They’re all mine now.”
In the ancestral estate’s woodshed, Wei Xiangning was trampled underfoot by her half-sister and died with hatred in her heart.
When she opened her eyes again, she saw the coming-of-age dress before her, its patterns exceeding the prescribed rank, and smiled.
In her previous life, she had scrupulously followed the Rules for Young Ladies, only to end up dead and denied a proper burial.
In this life, since everyone insists on “rules,” she’ll play by them to the absolute limit!
At her coming-of-age ceremony, her half-sister tries the same trick again. Wei Xiangning compares their handwriting in front of everyone, planting in the elders’ minds the idea that her half-sister is a frivolous concubine-born girl.
At the ancestral rites, she smiles as she points out that her stepmother’s incense is against regulations, then calmly takes back control of the household.
When her stepmother weeps and complains that she is heartless, she replies coolly, “Concubine Liu, for a secondary wife to use this incense is an act of overstepping. Under the Clan Rules, you deserve twenty slaps.”
She turns the rules into a blade, striking true with every cut and advancing with every step.
Everyone fears how strictly she “follows the rules.” Only Prince Jin, Xiao Yanci, understands the game she is playing.
He comes to her beneath the moon and whispers where no one else can hear, “Eldest Miss Wei, would you be willing to play this game of chess with me?”
