[A delicate, scheming captive mistress x an abstinent, aloof Minister of Rites]
Jiang Shouchen's father kept a mistress.
In the Jiang family, known for its upright family values, this was strictly forbidden.
At his mother's request, Jiang Shouchen went to find the mistress.
Inside the bamboo fence stood a slender figure with a delicate waist and a bright, innocent face.
The mistress opened the door for him. Her tender fingers gripped the little wooden gate as she smiled sweetly and asked, "My lord, who have you come to see?"
She smiled, soft as jade and lovely as a cloud. The flowers in the garden seemed to blush and fall.
"You... are the mistress my father keeps?" Jiang Shouchen asked, examining her as he spoke.
The mistress blinked. Her eyes suddenly reddened, and two clear tears slid down her rosy cheeks, gathering on her chin and reflecting Jiang Shouchen's cold eyes.
"Jiaoniang is not."
She wept, her delicate shoulders trembling. Her tears fell right onto her chest, soaking through her gauzy blouse and skirt.
"Jiaoniang is not."
Her eyes brimmed with tears.
Her crying irritated Jiang Shouchen. Was this how she had seduced his father, flaunting her delicate charm and wet clothes before him? His father, who had never been interested in women or luxury?
As Minister of Rites, Jiang Shouchen was reverent toward propriety itself, a walking embodiment of ritual and rules. He was chaste and self-disciplined, devoted to upholding his reputation and integrity.
He was cold and aloof by nature, and had long grown used to it.
A woman's sobbing kindled anger in his heart. He narrowed his eyes, annoyed.
But the mistress suddenly brought her hands together over the damp patch on her chest.
"You're being rude!" Her little face flushed red.
Jiang Shouchen followed her pale fingers with his gaze. What was she doing, tightening her clothes to show him?
Su Jiao, fifteen years old, daughter of the Governor of Liangzhou.
Three years ago, her father and brothers were convicted of crimes and the Su family was confiscated. She was passed from person to person until she ended up here, trapped in a secluded, empty courtyard.
A man often came to see her. He was handsome and looked about as old as her father, yet insisted on holding her and making her call him "Brother."
Su Jiao had a brother, though she did not know if he was still alive.
She wanted to escape back to Liangzhou, but did not even know where she was.
That day, a handsome older brother came to the courtyard.
He subdued all the guards, dusted off his sleeves, and stood three paces away, looking down at her as he questioned her: "You are the mistress my father... keeps?"
She was.
Su Jiao thought that she had not wanted this and had never agreed, but she was imprisoned here. Wasn't that the same thing?
Now, she did not want to remain one any longer. After three years, someone had finally come. She would hide in the handsome man's sleeve and use his help to escape.
Even a caged songbird had plenty of ways to choose which branch to land on.
Reading guide:
#Both leads are virgins# [The male lead's father waited for the heroine to come of age, only for his wonderful son to steal her away]
#A firsthand account of an aloof beauty falling from grace#
#I seduced the very embodiment of the law who came to arrest me#
#How I won over the Minister of Rites after being imprisoned for three years#
Theme: When your heart is moved, take action.
