The Duke's Cousin (Women-Run Society)

Zhao Zhiheng's stepfather arranged a marriage for her.

Her intended was the nephew of her biological father, a younger cousin who lived in the Duke of Wen's residence after losing both his parents.

Her biological father died young, and she had always taken extra care of her cousin out of sympathy for his circumstances. But that didn't mean she had to love him or marry him.

To resist the marriage, Zhao Zhiheng went on a hunger strike, stopped going to school, and even gave up the upcoming imperial examinations. She went to care for her elderly grandparents, using filial piety as a reason to refuse the match.

The whole main branch was thrown into chaos, and the entire Duke of Wen's residence was turned upside down.

As a result, Qin Ke, the duke's young male cousin, was left in an awkward position. In order to put an end to the trouble, they decided to send him away.

*

When Qin Ke learned that the duke's family was about to send him away, and that afterward he would be married off to a poor, fallen family in some faraway place, he was furious.

Remembering the gentle, attentive act he'd put on for half a year, all to deliberately draw Zhao Zhiheng in, he felt as though he'd thrown it all away for nothing.

There truly wasn't a decent woman in the world.

Even if he was a greedy, power-hungry man with an ego as big as the sky.

To stay, and to get revenge on Zhao Zhiheng for abandoning him, Qin Ke seduced Zhao Yanci, the legitimate daughter of the second branch of the Duke of Wen's family.

Zhao Yanci's family background was even more illustrious than Zhao Zhiheng's. Under the laws of the Great Li Dynasty, the eldest branch inherited the title. Though it remained the rightful main line in the eyes of the law, by this generation it had long since fallen into decline, relying on the younger generation to pass the imperial examinations and find official posts in the capital. The second branch, meanwhile, had powerful connections through its paternal line, royal blood, and a patriarch who held high office at court. The first branch's foundations could no longer compare with those of the second.

*

Lately, Zhao Yanci had noticed that she kept running into her cousin's fiance by accident. He'd twisted his ankle and nearly fallen into her arms, hidden behind a pillar to secretly watch her, made snide remarks about her cousin while praising her as a woman of heroic bearing, and deliberately brushed against her whenever they stood together...

She looked down at the young man who had thrown himself into her arms. He was petite and appeared gentle and harmless, with peach-blossom eyes full of tenderness. He seemed innocent on the surface, yet was always secretly trying to seduce people. He was nothing like the husband her father wanted to choose for her.

At the Great Xiangguo Temple, she had once heard him curse the Duke of Wen's family as immoral and ungrateful, predicting that they would be stripped of their wealth and their title before long. Yet in the blink of an eye, he had prayed against his conscience for the family's prosperity, all for the sake of his own riches and honor.

He was a thoroughly mercenary man.

Everyone around Zhao Yanci thought she was aloof, reserved, and dull, with no interest in romance. But in truth, she wasn't without desire. She was simply good at keeping it in check, because she cared about a person's face and figure, and had a particular weakness for slender waists.

Qin Ke was alluring to his very bones. When he walked, his waist swayed enticingly. Whenever she saw him, her gaze would unconsciously pass over that slender waist and linger on the shapely curves below.

*

Later, Qin Ke kept asking Zhao Yanci why she had married him in the first place.

Zhao Yanci patted him on the bottom and told him to sit properly and stop seducing her. They still had to go to roll call in a little while.

Seductress, lust-drunk, and secretly smoldering female military commander × dark, scheming, naturally seductive male lead

Theme: Persevere through every setback and grow stronger with each one