The Contract Wife

Gambler Zhou was at the end of his rope. When his creditors chased him home and chopped off one of his fingers, a well-meaning onlooker offered him a way to save his life.

Recently, a powerful official from the capital had been sent to take up a post in Suyang. Everyone knew he loved a life of luxury and was especially fond of beautiful women. Zhou could pawn off his delicate and beautiful wife to serve as the official's concubine for a year or so. That would be better than being beaten to death with clubs himself.

Zhou looked back at their drafty, tumbledown hut and at his trembling wife, hiding behind the door with their son in her arms. He steeled himself, snatched their son from her arms, and shoved her toward the residence the onlooker had mentioned: the Shen Estate.

On a moonless night, red candles flickered and shadows danced.

Holding a fan, Shen Cheng lifted the hibiscus canopy and teased her bluntly. "Yunniang, now that you've been sold to the Shen Estate, you should know your place as a servant."

Yunniang did as he asked. She undid her buttons and looped her arms around his shoulders, pleading through tearful eyes, "I only ask that you honor our agreement for one year."

Shen Cheng remained silent, his gaze resting on the beauty's soft, dewy lips. His brows lifted slightly. In the end, he wanted more.

Theme: Strive to be your own person