A Promise of Marriage

The main story is complete. Bonus chapters will be updated from time to time.

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[Mutual devotion, 1v1, forced marriage, groveling romance, powerful man bows his head]

The marriage agreement between the Chu and Lin families was made by their fathers back when they were both struggling to get by.

Whenever Chu Xuchen remembers that he has a country-bumpkin fiancee he's never even met, he seethes with displeasure. Now he's a powerful man, a handsome and talented scholar who is all the rage in the capital. So many young ladies from prominent families are vying to marry him.

And that Lin-whatever-her-name-is has a claim on him without him even having met her. What makes her so special?

He comes up with a plan. He asks his mother to adopt a cousin of marriageable age from the clan as a second son, then sends him to marry that Lin girl.

After all, his father never explicitly said that the eldest son of the Chu family had to marry into the Lin family.

Lin Muning follows her father's orders and travels to the capital to find her not-yet-wedded husband.

The Chu family puts forward their second son, Chu Shumo. He is well-mannered and refined, though he has yet to earn an official degree, and he is an ambitious young man.

Most importantly, he respects her choices. He says that before or after marriage, Muning can do whatever she wants.

Lin Muning has no complaints.

Her main reason for coming to the capital wasn't to rely on her husband's family anyway. She wants to make her own way in the city and build a life for herself.

The wedding is set for a year later. In the meantime, Lin Muning lives at the Chu residence as an honored guest.

Ever since the woman moved into his family home, Chu Xuchen's peaceful life has been thrown into disarray. His eyes are always drawn to her.

She's strikingly beautiful and attracts attention wherever she goes. The first time she visits her fiance at the Imperial College, someone gets into a fight over her. She's lively and vivacious, and the Chu family matriarch likes her as soon as they meet. She's exceptionally clever, and even the former dynasty's Grand Tutor, the hardest teacher in the capital to secure, accepts her as his last disciple.

She makes friends everywhere. She becomes close with the future princess consort, and even the princes show her some respect. Her friends in the martial world are an eclectic bunch. Later, she even starts a business and is so busy her feet barely touch the ground.

Chu Xuchen realizes that he's changed. He gets angry when Lin Muning talks too much with Chu Shumo, and jealous when Chu Shumo protects her. Even the woman in his spring dreams is her.

He begins worrying about her, afraid that as a woman striking out on her own, she'll be bullied. He often appears from the shadows to clear every obstacle in her path, without taking credit.

Even the servants can't stand it anymore. One asks him, "Young Master, do you like Miss Lin? Should we talk to the Old Madam and change the engagement again?"

He neither confirms nor denies it.

As the wedding date approaches, Lin Muning starts embroidering her wedding dress. The bright red color pierces his eyes, and only then does he belatedly realize how deeply he's fallen. What should he do? What can he do?

He thinks it over for three days and nights, then decides to take her back!

Theme: Don't let the one you love slip away.