Luo Shuyi was born into a family of scholars and was the only daughter of the Minister's household. Her father and elder brother rose steadily through the official ranks, becoming favorites of the emperor.
From childhood, she inherited her parents' good looks. Her skin was as smooth as jade, her lips as red as cinnabar, and her beauty was beyond compare. Gentle and quiet by nature, she was also renowned far and wide as an exemplary young lady.
But when she was seventeen, an indictment was delivered to the Luo residence. That night, an imperial envoy arrived with troops and smashed through the gates of the Minister's household. Everyone in the family was thrown into prison.
On a rainy night, Luo Shuyi evaded the guards searching the city and stumbled to the Governor's residence, where she made a decision she would regret for countless nights to come.
She knocked on the door of the Governor, who had always been at odds with her brother, and begged him to clear the Luo family's name and right the wrong done to them.
The man stood tall and graceful in the rain, gripping her chin as the corner of his mouth lifted ever so slightly.
"Luo Shuyi, what will you give me in exchange?"
The kneeling woman lowered her tearful eyes and finally slipped off her robes.
From then on, everyone passing by at night could hear a woman's sobs mingling with the melodious chime of bells.
*
The night the Luo family was cleared of wrongdoing, Luo Shuyi wept with joy. That same night, she unexpectedly learned that she was carrying a child, already three months along.
Luo Shuyi acted at once. She tucked the letter her brother had sent into her luggage, and finally, on a dark and windy night, seized her chance, shook off her attendants, and boarded the ship her brother had prepared for her.
"Whoosh..." The ship pulled away.
Watching Jingzhou grow smaller and smaller, she sighed in relief. Just as she was about to embrace her parents, whom she had been separated from for months, she suddenly heard several familiar voices from the shore, voices she had longed to hear day and night.
"A-Shu!"
It was her parents and her brother!
They were still on the shore, so what ship had she boarded...?
The next instant, a cold presence seized her from behind. The man's voice was icy as his gaze fell on her slightly rounded belly.
"You're carrying my child. Where do you think you're going?"
*
The Grand Governor, Pei Wujiao, was once the adopted son of Old Master Luo. But one day he turned against him and severed all ties with the Luo family.
He commanded a mighty army on the frontier and wielded immense power at court. Even the emperor had to show him some deference. Cruel and ruthless by nature, he was someone no one dared defy.
Yet his obedient, delicate niece had deceived him time and again, stoking the fury in his heart.
Afterward, whenever he saw her weeping alone at the bedside, he still found himself wanting to give her a child to keep her company.
She had lost her family, so he would simply give her one.
Once she gave birth, whether the child was a boy or a girl, he would make her his principal wife.
He never expected the first message from the hawk he had tasked with watching over her safety to be:
She had run away.
[Reader's Guide]
1. Coercive possessiveness, he falls for her after taking her. The male lead is even more of a bastard than the one in my last book.
2. The leads are not related by blood in any way. The male lead is the Old Master's adopted son.
3. This blurb was saved on July 26, 2026. Plagiarism will be pursued.
Theme: Live well
