[Former title: A Banquet by Imperial Decree]
[A wife should choose a husband as she would choose jade, seeking flawlessness; a husband should serve his wife as he would serve Heaven, leaving her without complaint.]
Yu Wan was sure she would win the top scholar title and enjoy the palace’s Qionglin Banquet.
But she never expected to anger the emperor with an old poem, be struck from the list, and banished from the capital, never to be employed again.
She fell from a favored prodigy to the dust, and only Fan Qiuchen volunteered to accompany her home, caring for her attentively all along the way.
She knew he wouldn’t have gone to such lengths if not to repay a debt of gratitude.
But she couldn’t understand it. The previous generation’s debt had long since been repaid, and now she was no more than a commoner, hitting dead ends at every turn, avoided by everyone. So what did he hope to gain by following her?
Years ago, Fan Qiuchen had traveled a thousand miles to repay a debt to the Yu family. When the elders hinted that Yu Wan should take him in as a lesser husband, he had secretly been a little hopeful.
He never expected Yu Wan to merely glance at him and say coldly, “No. I have a condition that makes me intolerant of idiots,” dousing his hopes completely.
Even less did he expect that this proud, aloof Yu Wan would one day lose everything, giving him the chance to help her when she needed it most.
He quietly hid his feelings, hoping he could simply keep traveling with her like this, without any claim or title, wherever they went.
A scholar is useless in every way.
Back in her ancestral hometown, Yu Wan couldn’t carry heavy things or do manual labor. Having lost every means of making a living, she had no choice but to set aside her pride and navigate her way among all kinds of people, making the rounds to meet and entertain them, building connections and settling disputes everywhere. She made a surprisingly good living as a “bamboo-woven matchmaker,” a role unfit for polite society.
Still, in her heart, no matter how fine the wine and food, nothing could compare to the simple home-cooked meals Fan Qiuchen served her.
Whether her neighbors invited her to the village tavern or an imperial decree summoned her back to the capital, even when she finally got to enjoy a palace banquet, she would still follow the light he left on and return to their little house. Only after hearing his gentle greeting and eating a bowl of hot wontons he had made with his own hands could she feel at ease.
[Mutual pining, everyday life, a lighthearted and healing novella]
Theme: Maintain love and trust, and a happy life will surely follow
