The Jealous Husband

Smiling-tiger, sweet on the outside and dark within male lead x career-driven, straightforward female lead After her father died unexpectedly, her uncle pressured Zhou Zhaoying to transfer all the family property to the government. With no other option, Zhou Zhaoying wrote to her father’s former junior colleagues for help, one by one. She remembered that one of them had once acted as a matchmaker for her and her father, but at the time she had only just come of age, and her father had rejected the proposal on her behalf. Three years had passed. She didn’t know whether the man had married, but in keeping with her cast-a-wide-net approach, she sent him a letter anyway. Cui Youzhi had made a name for himself at a young age and entered the cabinet on the recommendation of Lord Zhou. He received a letter from his mentor, never expecting it to be a death notice. The Zhou girl was in trouble and wanted to know whether he was still unmarried? Cui Youzhi suppressed the stirrings in his heart and volunteered to make an inspection tour of the south. The two became engaged, and every complication was resolved with astonishing ease. Zhou Zhaoying didn’t think much of it. She followed Cui Youzhi to the capital for their wedding, broadened her horizons, and decided to sit for the women’s imperial examination, a rare opportunity indeed. Cui Youzhi thought it would be a good thing if she could establish herself this way. Every day after work, he checked her studies, answered her questions, and kept her disciplined, strict in every way. Zhou Zhaoying thought she had landed herself a wonderful marriage. Her husband was high-born, learned, and considerate. Apart from having to suffer a slap on the palm when she couldn’t recite a passage, everything was perfect. But by chance, she came across an official document from the “Daily Records,” which had recorded every detail of her daily life: Third day: Wife went to the office. Spoke with Compiler Li about breakfast and entered the office together; exchanged a few words with Editor Zhang. Ate millet porridge, cucumber, and shrimp dumplings for dinner... No kiss. Fourth day: Wife went to the office. Discussed river history with the Third Prince for half an hour... Kissed for fifteen minutes in the evening. Fifth day: Wife went to the office... Only then did Zhou Zhaoying realize: The prince who had greeted her the day before had been transferred to another department. The colleague she had exchanged a couple of words with the day before that had been sent to Lingnan. Today, a sweep of the Hanlin Academy showed a few old men, a few men with bushy beards, and her. A year into their marriage, Zhou Zhaoying sought to advance her career by taking a post outside the capital. Before leaving, she thought Cui Youzhi might feel lonely in their enormous residence, so, on someone’s advice, she allowed two beauties from Jiangnan to enter the household. As her carriage was about to depart, Zhou Zhaoying lifted the curtain and saw the man sitting inside. He toyed with two bloodstained hairpins and asked her slowly, “Yingying, have you ever loved me?” Zhou Zhaoying recognized them. They were the hairpins she had given the beauties that day. Reader’s guide: * Seven-year age gap * One-on-one romance, with differences in perspective; the leads are imperfect * The setting is inspired by the Ming dynasty; women’s imperial examinations are fictional Theme: Cherish the person by your side.