Love Hidden in the Marriage Contract

A refined and noble (not really) clan head x a clever, stunning beauty

Rival suitors and a love-triangle battlefield / stealing someone's wife; both sides have their own schemes when the marriage begins, and the male lead falls first

When people mention Xie Xueli, the second daughter of the Xie family in the imperial capital, the first things that come to mind are her unparalleled beauty and her place in the crown prince's heart.

That should have been a good thing, but the elders of the Xie family grew worried because of it.

Although the Chen family still nominally ruled the realm, the land had long since been split into five powers. No one could say who would rule it in the future. Given the current state of affairs, the Chen family had little chance of winning. To put it plainly, the crown prince could not protect Xueli.

After much deliberation, the Xie family chose the Chang family of Longxi, a powerful clan that rarely showed its strength. There were two reasons:

Xueli's maternal family, the Cen family, had considerable influence in Longxi and could look after her.

The Chang family head, Chang Jingyou, was renowned as a model young nobleman, benevolent and courteous. The Chang family was also one of the five powers.

In the eyes of the Xie family elders, if this marriage went ahead, it would give Xueli double protection for the rest of her life. But no one expected that Xueli's arrival in Longxi would throw the relatively stable political situation into turmoil.

Chang Jingyou agreed to marry into the Xie family of the imperial capital at first to reassure his elders. Both the Xie and Cen families were influential clans, and an alliance would benefit the Chang family.

Later, he marched out of Longxi to contend for the realm, and much of his reason was to keep his wife by his side. If only the greatest person in the realm could stay with Xueli, then he would become that person.

Xie Xueli had a secret: she had chosen her husband herself.

Whether she became the Chang family's matriarch or the empress, she didn't particularly care.

Later, her husband discovered this secret.

Theme: Journeying forth for love