Marrying into a Powerful Family Again

In the spring of the first year of Yongqing, Shen Jiayin, a widow for seven years, rode back to the prosperous capital of Yujing in a carriage. In her youth, her beauty had dazzled the whole capital. With nothing but her looks and her humble merchant-family origins, she had married a top scholar from a family of officials. He cherished and adored her, and the two were deeply devoted to each other. Their perfect union became the talk of the town. But three years after their marriage, the top scholar died on the road back to the capital from his post. After seven years in seclusion in Jiangnan, on a misty, drizzly day, Shen Jiayin burned incense for her late husband and climbed into a carriage bound for the capital. A new emperor had taken the throne, and a new set of officials had come to power. After some careful consideration, Shen Jiayin turned her attention to a widower. A man who, when they were young, had quietly followed behind her betrothed to catch a glimpse of her, only to look away as if nothing had happened when she glanced his way. An old acquaintance. Gao Zhe’s love for Shen Jiayin was shallow. He loved only her face, beautiful as a rose. As it happened, Shen Jiayin’s love was shallow too. She loved only Gao Zhe’s power, the status he could give her, the security he could bring her family, and... the identity she could put to use. They were shallow, despicable, and vulgar... They were made for each other. A widow and a widower, a cold heart and a fickle one: they were a match made in heaven, a perfect pair. They bowed three times before their elders and would be together till the end of time. They would grow old together and spend their lives by each other’s side. The heroine never suffers mistreatment. The hero is a cold-faced, devoted simp. He is a virgin; she is not. A vulgar, clichéd story. A worldly, imperfect love. Theme: Flowers that bloom in the dust find salvation in each other amid the mundane world.