Xi Ling was betrothed to Yang Xingzhou when they were children. Before the wedding, her grandfather was imprisoned under the ban on "false learning." The Yang family hurriedly broke off the engagement, and the entire Xi family was convicted. On the day she was forced to leave the capital, Xie Jun's grandfather stopped the soldiers with a marriage contract. "This woman is my Xie family's daughter-in-law."
That marriage contract saved Xi Ling, but it also kept Xie Jun from joining the army.
*
Xi Ling knew of the old grudge between their grandfathers, and she knew Xie Jun was unhappy about the marriage. After they married, he would only call her "Elder Sister." Even consummating the marriage had taken his grandfather's threats and coaxing to make happen.
Xi Ling became all the more cautious, hoping for only two things: to bear a son and secure her place in the Xie family, and to earn enough money to help her relatives. She dared not hope for anything else.
**
Xie Jun knew the marriage had been his grandfather's idea, yet he still couldn't stop resenting Xi Ling.
Years later, at an art gallery east of the city, Yang Xingzhou paid a fortune for dozens of paintings. A friend who treasured art secretly kept one and invited him to admire it. Xie Jun recognized Xi Ling's handwriting at a glance.
That day, he drank himself senseless. All he remembered was his friend's words: "She doesn't love you."
In the fifth year of their marriage, Grand Preceptor Han Tuozhou proposed a campaign against Jin, and Xie Jun resolutely enlisted. Xi Ling said nothing, but as she packed for him, she found a box in a secret compartment in his study. As if bewitched, she opened it. Inside were all the paintings she had sold over the years. She counted them: not a single one was missing.
As Xi Ling stared in shock, his voice came from outside the door. "Elder Sister, don't you have anything to say to me?"
Xi Ling looked at him for a long while, then her eyes reddened. "When you return, I'll tell you everything."
Xie Jun smiled. "All right."
That year, to win popular support, Han Tuozhou relaxed the party ban. Everyone who had been demoted was posthumously vindicated, but Xi Ling's grandfather was not cleared until the Northern Expedition was imminent.
**
Xie Jun believed that marrying Xi Ling had ruined all his life's ambitions, never knowing that she was the bright moon lighting his path.
Xie Jun: So what if she doesn't love me? I've got plenty of strength and ways to win her over ^o^
[Opening in mid-October]
*Female lead's perspective, **male lead's perspective. Both are each other's only partner, happy ending. The female lead is one year older than the male lead. Set in the Southern Song, with real historical figures. The setting is based on historical research, but the author is not a professional, so please forgive any errors.
On the seven strings, clear and cold, I quietly hear the wind in the pines. - Liu Changqing
Theme: Even against thousands, I will go forward.
