Lin Zhaoniang’s Diary of Life Among the Imperial Clan

When the Jin forces invaded south, large numbers of Song imperial relatives and nobles fled south to escape the turmoil, making Fujian Circuit especially prosperous.

To better fit into local life, members of the imperial clan married into local gentry families. The two groups blended together, forming a new power.

Lin Zhaoniang was born into a branch of a branch of the prominent Lin family of Jianning Prefecture, Fujian Circuit. Her family had only a little over twenty mu of poor farmland on the outskirts of Pingqing County. They relied on the clan's protection to get by, barely scraping together enough to eat.

Her father and older brother had repeatedly failed the imperial examinations, and her younger brother was old enough to start school. To pay his tuition, she and her mother had to work by lamplight every day, laboriously weaving cloth to earn money.

Then one day, her uncle, who held an official post in Fujian Circuit, sent a letter offering to find Lin Zhaoniang a match. The groom was a member of the imperial clan, a refined and handsome man of upright character.

Her family was overjoyed. Her parents hurriedly scraped together a few mu of land and sent her to Fujian Circuit to prepare for the wedding.

The people of the county all said she was lucky, and Lin Zhaoniang was happy too. But on the eve of the wedding, she learned there was a catch: her groom was a sickly man who might not live long.

The betrothal tokens had already been exchanged, so she was trapped.

Her parents regretted it too late and came to see her in tears.

But Lin Zhaoniang comforted them. "Whatever he's like, I'll make a good life for myself."

She had already resigned herself to becoming a widow and marrying a husband who looked gaunt and close to death.

But after the wedding, life turned out very differently from what she had expected.

Her uncle hadn't lied. Her husband was frail, but indeed handsome and virtuous, and treated her with great respect.

But he had been born into the imperial family, and was particular about everything. He would wear nothing but fine silks and could not enjoy a meal unless it was made of the finest ingredients. He was sharp-tongued and could turn the whole household upside down with a few cutting remarks. Lin Zhaoniang, meanwhile, had grown used to keeping her head down and treading carefully. The two of them just couldn't seem to get along.

A reserved, resilient daughter of a fallen branch of a prominent family x a frail, demanding member of the imperial clan who lives a life of leisure

Reader's guide:

1. This is a semi-fictional setting, with a backdrop somewhere between the early and middle Southern Song. There is no precise timeline, so events from different periods are mixed together.

2. The characters' values do not represent the author's. The author wants to recreate the social atmosphere of the time, so many characters' thoughts and actions will differ greatly from modern ideas.

3. The author is the heroine's biological mother. The heroine will certainly live a good life and be very fortunate by the standards of her time.

4. The story is slice of life with a small ensemble cast, so it may be a slow burn.

5. Happy ending.

6. More details to come!

Recommended: the author's upcoming story, "Wealthy Life in Lin'an"

Shanqing was the daughter of a bricklayer in Dawa Alley, Lin'an. Life in Lin'an was expensive, and to support the family, not only did her mother work as a washerwoman, but her older sister also had to get up early to sell flowers from a basket.

Shanqing was eager to find work too. She set her sights on a kitchen helper's position at the princess's residence. She had heard that the princess had only one son, a virtuous and ambitious young man who couldn't tell one flavor from another and was easy to please when it came to food. It seemed like a cushy job with little to worry about.

But just as Shanqing finally managed to secure a position at the princess's residence after much hardship, her flower-selling older sister caught the emperor's eye. In a single leap, she became a favored consort.

No one knew what her older sister had said to the emperor, but Shanqing's job turned into a marriage.

Theme: Strive to improve yourself.