Shen Lingyi, the legitimate daughter of the Duke of Dingguo’s mansion, was betrothed by imperial decree to Lu Jin, a powerful official from a humble background. But their wedding was delayed for six years. Then a vivid dream jolted her awake, revealing her wretched fate: forced to serve as heir to two branches of the family, saddled with a widowed sister-in-law and her four sons, losing her home and child, and dying full of bitterness. When events after she woke confirmed the dream, she burned her wedding dress with her own hands and announced in public, “I’m calling off the engagement.”
Her sworn enemy, Xiao Fengque, was lounging against a wall, enjoying the show, when he suddenly intervened. “I’ll help you wipe out the entire Lu family. In return, you’ll marry me?” Lu Jin clutched the betrothal contract and roared like a madman, “I will never break off this engagement!” Shen Lingyi hurled a torch at the Lu family ancestral hall. “You don’t get a choice. If you won’t end it, I’ll turn your Fu family ancestral hall into a graveyard.”
