The Standards of a Concubine's Daughter

My new book, *A Husband’s Fortune Comes from His Wife*, is now underway! Meng Yunxian was a legitimate daughter through and through. But when she was born, a woman bribed by her father’s concubine replaced her with a stillborn baby, and Meng Yunxian was raised as the concubine’s daughter, a secondary daughter of the marquis’s household. She lived in the countryside for ten years. She’d thought she could spend her whole life carefree in that peaceful little village, but then a letter arrived from the family estate: it was time for her to reclaim her place in the family. Brother Zhou from the village next door said, “A secondary daughter who was sent away from the family estate in the next village packed her things and went home, overjoyed. She died not long after she returned.” Brother Zhou also said, “Girls like us, secondary daughters who’ve been sent away, tend to meet miserable ends. Someone like you should find a good man and marry him as soon as possible, to escape the clutches of the Meng family.” Meng Yunxian was so frightened she grabbed him. “I’m not going back! I won’t go back! Brother Zhou, can I go home with you?” Brother Zhou gave her a meaningful smile. The very next day, he packed up and left in a carriage amid a grand procession of servants, unilaterally ending their seven-year friendship as fellow villagers. Sitting alone on a little mound of earth, Meng Yunxian felt deeply forlorn. Better to believe the Meng family was haunted than to trust a word from Zhou Ke. Reading guide: 1. She earns everyone’s love through her own abilities. 2. The heroine is a work in progress. She’ll make mistakes, be muddled, and fail to see things clearly. The plot is in service of her growth, so please don’t rush ahead hoping for a particular satisfying scene. 3. Fictional setting with no historical research. Everything serves the plot, and any inconsistencies will be fixed. Readers who prefer strict historical accuracy should proceed with caution. Started on December 7, 2018. Started serializing on January 1, 2019. Scheduled to become a paid book on January 27, with a 70% anti-piracy threshold and a 72-hour delay. Writing is hard work, so thanks for supporting the official edition! Theme: