Marriage first, love later | Fulfilling marital duties | Love grows over time | Historical domestic intrigue | Happy ending
An imperial decree of marriage sent Chen Jiaojiao, the Grand Tutor's legitimate daughter, to the side of Wei Ning, the battle-hardened General Who Guards the North.
Everyone thought theirs was a mismatched marriage.
After the wedding, they treated each other politely and observed the duties of husband and wife.
But after years without children, gossip in the household surged toward Chen Jiaojiao like a tide.
Her mother-in-law pressured her, others speculated, and everyone was convinced that there was something wrong with her, making it difficult for her to bear children.
She drank bowl after bowl of medicinal soup, struggling to endure the endless whispers.
Until the secret could no longer be kept.
She looked at the husband she had lived alongside day and night and asked softly:
"All this time, have you respected and protected me because you were following the imperial decree and keeping to your duties, or... because you have feelings for me?"
