The Madam Only Wants to Be a Kept Woman

Cui Wu died suddenly after working overtime all night. When she woke up, she had transmigrated into the body of the Cui family’s legitimate daughter, who shared her name.

The good news was that Cui Wu was living the life she’d longed for before her death: a life she’d hardly dared dream of, where she didn’t have to work 996 hours, and could have clothes and food brought to her, with servants at her beck and call. The bad news was that her father had died young, leaving her frail mother to struggle alone to support the family. The clan leader came by every few days to urge her mother to remarry. By the time Cui Wu came of age, her mother could no longer hold on. Clasping her hand, she said, “Find yourself a frail son-in-law who’ll marry into the family. That way, the people in the clan won’t try to take over the family business, or even plot to take your life.”

Cui Wu tearfully agreed, but she was in a real bind. Everyone around her meant her harm, coveting not only her family’s wealth but also her beauty, and even her life.

She didn’t want to hand her family’s assets over to someone for nothing, nor did she want to be treated as an afterthought herself.

So she placated the clan and dealt with the matchmakers who came calling, while secretly asking people to find her a son-in-law.

Unfortunately, frail men in this era were usually not good-looking. She wanted a child, but she simply couldn’t bring herself to sleep with them.

One day, on her way to a country estate, she spotted a man floating in the river. Though covered in wounds and deathly pale, he still had an air of refinement and handsome features.

The old saying warned against picking up men by the roadside, but Cui Wu took one look at his face, thought about her situation, and brought him home anyway.

The handsome man had lost his memory and couldn’t recall who he was. The only thing he remembered was that people used to call him Xie Shenzhi. Cui Wu found doctors to treat him, visited him every day, and used her beauty to deliberately entice him. She even had someone else tell him about her predicament.

Naturally, the two fell in love and became husband and wife. As they entwined in the night, she called him Shenzhi.

Cui Wu became pregnant and gave birth to a son ten months later. At the boy’s one-month celebration, she felt that the man had grown distant from her. He often stared at her in a daze. She guessed he must have regained his memory, and that someone of her status could never be his principal wife.

Sure enough, one day a group of people from the capital came knocking at the Cui family’s door.

It turned out he was Xie Shenzhi, heir to the Duke of Dingguo, the son of a princess and a man of noble birth and illustrious lineage.

Now that Xie Shenzhi had reclaimed his identity, none of his former warmth and affection remained. His voice was distant and courteous. “Thank you for saving my life. But our stations are too different, so you’ll have to accept the lesser status of a concubine. Will you come back to the capital with me?”

Cui Wu looked at him for a long time, then finally shook her head.

“You saved my life, and I want nothing in return. Let the child take my surname, Cui. That way, you and your future wife won’t grow resentful of each other. You’ll agree, won’t you?”

Xie Shenzhi fell silent for a moment, then nodded.

“We were husband and wife once. If you ever find yourself in trouble, send someone to write and tell me.”

After saying this, he turned and left with his people. Cui Wu guessed he would soon marry and have children, forget everything that had happened here, and forget her and their son.

She did not know that, three years after returning to the capital, Duke of Dingguo’s heir Xie Shenzhi had lost all his former refinement and composure. Plagued by severe headaches, he could no longer sleep at night, and his personality changed completely. By candlelight, he was always sketching a woman.

His subordinates often brought back news from the south.

“My lord, the madam says you’re a fine young gentleman who abandoned his wife and child to marry into a powerful family, but you still can’t forget her and your son. You even forge letters and banknotes from the capital every month. Everyone in the clan is wary of you.”

“My lord, the madam went out to do business, claiming she was a widow supporting herself and her son. The family she dealt with gave her a thirty-percent share of the profits.”

“My lord, the madam rescued a young man who escaped from a male brothel and made him her personal guard.”

The heir’s headaches grew worse by the day.

The old madam of the household could no longer stand to watch him suffer. At last, she ordered her personal servant, “Take some people and bring the Cui woman and her child to the capital.”

Looking at Cui Wu, whose complexion was rosy and healthy, Xie Shenzhi asked, “I abandoned my wife and child to marry into a powerful family, but couldn’t forget you and our son, and sent you letters and money every month?”

Cui Wu swallowed nervously.

“You claimed your husband had died and that you were supporting yourself and your son?”

Cui Wu looked guilty.

“You rescued a young man from a male brothel and made him your personal guard?”

“And now that you’ve come to the capital, you’ve brought him along with your child.”

“A-Wu, why do you keep picking up people at random? Picking me up was one thing, but you had to pick someone else up outside a male brothel too?”

Theme: Only those who love themselves can love others.