[Fragile, stubborn schemer heroine x stern, noble Censor-in-Chief]
After a sudden disaster, Ying Zhaolian lost her family, and the enviable marriage she'd once been promised fell through.
Her fiance kicked her while she was down. The wealthy merchant's daughter, raised in luxury, was reduced to being sold into a brothel.
On the way there, she staked everything on stopping a carriage that clearly belonged to someone important.
The curtain lifted. Chang Yue looked down and saw a young woman with a lovely face, but covered in dust and disheveled. She looked wretched and pitiful, her eyes filled with equal parts defiance and sorrow.
His gaze shifted ever so slightly.
The girl before him had been through so much that her circumstances reminded him of his own childhood.
At that moment, he could not help but feel compassion for her.
*
Ying Zhaolian had assumed the man she'd gotten involved with was, at most, a rich young gentleman.
It was only later that she learned he was the Censor-in-Chief: stern, noble, and feared by all.
One day, he would leave Wan County and return to the capital. She didn't want to suffer the same rootless, wandering life ever again.
She knew she still had a lovely, delicate figure that could charm him. If she could make him fall for her, she might secure a place as his concubine and never have to worry about food or clothes again.
Besides, Chang Yue was devastatingly handsome. Being by the side of a man like him wouldn't be a hardship.
So one night, Ying Zhaolian summoned her courage and hooked a finger into Chang Yue's belt...
*
Outsiders could only marvel that Chang Yue, a man known for his impeccable conduct, had returned from an imperial inspection tour with a woman in tow.
She was certainly beautiful, but only a merchant's daughter from a small town.
Her family had fallen on hard times, and both her parents were dead.
How could the celebrated Censor-in-Chief marry a woman of such low status? Even as a concubine, she would be reaching far above her station.
Everyone in the capital looked forward to seeing her cast aside.
What they didn't know was...
Night after night, the man held her slender waist and gently coaxed her through her sobs:
"Zhaozhao, marry me."
[Reading Guide]
1. One-to-one pairing, both leads are virgins, and the male lead is chaste in both body and heart.
2. The heroine isn't a strong woman. She's a bit of a schemer.
[Screenshot taken on 2025.6.7]
Theme: Strive to improve
