[Blurb]
Jiang Zhao was an orphan. Thanks to the late General Zhuguo, she received the title of county lady, making her second in status only to princesses among the noblewomen of the capital. Everyone envied her.
But she lived with clear-eyed ease, knowing there was no such thing as a free lunch. She simply waited for the day she could serve her country. Sure enough, just before her coming-of-age ceremony, news arrived that she was to marry off in place of a princess.
From that moment on, Jiang Zhao's peaceful life gradually grew turbulent, leaving her unable to see what the future held.
No one knew that Jiang Zhao's greatest wish in life was to have a home of her own, like the family of the secretary who rented the west courtyard of her house, always happy together.
Of course, that did nothing to change her disdain for Shen Yuan. He might have been the top candidate in the imperial examinations, handpicked by the emperor, and in the eyes of the world a paragon of talent and virtue, as pure as the moon and a gentle breeze.
But to Jiang Zhao, Shen Yuan held the office of secretary without ever offering advice or proposing policies. Instead, he went along with the crowd, unworthy of his position. She regretted having been moved by his speech in the Golden Hall.
Yet Jiang Zhao could never have imagined that this very man she called
