Jiang Yin's mother was once a courtesan. When Jiang Yin was seven, her mother left the brothel and entered the Marquis's household in a small sedan chair as a concubine.
Jiang Yin thus became an illegitimate daughter of the marquis's household, with neither a proper title nor standing.
But no one in the household thought highly of her. Everyone whispered behind her back, saying that when she grew up, she would be just as wanton as her mother.
Jiang Yin grew up this way, reaching the age of sixteen. She had heard those insults all her life, and by now they were no more than words in the wind.
She simply enjoyed the household's wealth in peace and let them say whatever they liked.
After all, she had no intention of getting married.
The gossips grew all the bolder. Because she was naturally alluring, they began spreading rumors that she had already been with countless men.
And so her reputation for beauty and wantonness spread far and wide. Everyone in the capital knew how uninhibited she was.
Whenever she went out, men looked at her like hungry dogs.
Men often offered themselves to her, but Jiang Yin never gave them the time of day.
Until one day, she received an invitation to the crown prince's bed.
Crown Prince Xie Lanchen was the emperor's only heir. Handsome beyond compare, he was like an elegant orchid or a jade tree, and his noble character was as bright and clear as the sun and moon. Everyone admired him.
At a flower-viewing banquet, a friend pointed to a bewitchingly beautiful woman and said to the crown prince, "That beauty is the illegitimate daughter of the Marquis of Changning. She may seem quiet, but I hear she's quite uninhibited in private, changing bedmates one after another."
Xie Lanchen glanced at her, then looked away.
His friend took it for disdain. Little did he know that from the first moment Xie Lanchen saw her, the wickedness deep in his bones had been impossible to suppress.
He had never been a good person. The noble, upright image was a reputation his father and mother had fashioned for him. At heart, he was evil, a born degenerate.
The moment he saw her, Xie Lanchen knew he had finally found the perfect person to teach him the ways of the bedchamber.
So when the banquet ended, he sent her an invitation to his bed.
Jiang Yin didn't dare keep the crown prince waiting, and arrived on time.
But she rejected him to his face.
Xie Lanchen returned to the Eastern Palace still a virgin.
At first, he didn't think much of it. After all, he was the crown prince of a nation. He could have any woman he wanted, so there was no need to fixate on this one.
But later, he heard more of her scandals, such as how she had just spent a night of passion with this man or that.
Suddenly, Xie Lanchen felt resentment.
Why could they have her, but he couldn't?
[This blurb has been archived. Any copying of its ideas will be pursued.]
Theme: Remaining unstained despite emerging from the mud
