A Concubine-Born Daughter's Marriage Plot: The Hanlin Scholar Has Fallen for Her

Shen Yuan was the least cherished of the Shen family's daughters. Her birth mother had died young, her stepmother was cruel, and her father treated her as if she didn't exist. The Shen family had already decided to marry her off as a second wife to a forty-year-old rich merchant, then use the entire bride price to prepare a dowry for her legitimate older sister.

Xie Huaijin was the most upright gentleman in the Xie family. At just twenty-three, he had already risen to the fifth rank as a Hanlin Academy scholar. He was chaste and never got involved with women. Word around town was that he kept a former love in his heart and would likely remain alone all his life.

At a springtime gathering, Shen Yuan caught sight of Xie Huaijin from afar, and a glimmer flickered in her eyes.

After crossing paths with him again and again, Shen Yuan slowly made her way into Xie Huaijin's heart.

Xie Huaijin cherished and loved her. On the day Shen Yuan married, the whole city was abuzz with talk of how a daughter born to a concubine had managed to marry the eldest legitimate son of the Xie family.