Resentful Romance

Su Wanzhen, the dignified and stern First Madam of the Yang family, has just learned that her birth family is in trouble. Hoping the Yang family will help, she prepares to set aside her cold marriage and humble herself to her husband in bed. But just then, the Master of the House brings home Taoxian, a concubine of breathtaking beauty. After a series of entanglements, the First Madam has no choice but to ask the concubine to teach her the arts of the bedchamber. What begins with reluctance turns to pleasure, and before long, the two women develop a forbidden attachment. Facing her birth family in crisis, a son who refuses to inherit the family business, and a concubine and uncles intent on the family fortune is already more than difficult enough. Then an event from twenty years ago comes to light. The enemy is hidden, while she stands exposed, and the hand of a great conspiracy slowly closes around them. Those who seem as steadfast as iron prove to be fickle villains; even blood relatives turn against one another. One secret after another surfaces in the great house. Her husband is lost to lust, and Madam Yang has no choice but to step forward and hold the family together. But with war raging outside and calamity within, where can the two women turn in these turbulent times? [Warning: This story is for readers who don't need any warnings.] Someone kind kept urging me, so I've decided to give finishing it a try. But this was written nearly six years ago, five years at the very least. Some of its views will inevitably feel outdated today, so please don't hold it to modern standards. I'll try to use the correct Chinese particles for “de,” but I'll admit I mostly left it to the input method. (Looks up at the sky.) Theme: A dignified First Madam and a flirtatious concubine develop a forbidden attachment. Unwilling to remain a wooden wife and mother, they join forces to carve out a way to survive in this chaotic world.