Jade Soft, Flowers Delicate

Xu Qinghan, the legitimate daughter of a prominent family, was timid by nature and known as a beautiful but wooden girl.

General Xiao Yi was wary of clever women. Since she was a legitimate daughter from a prestigious family and seemed easy to control, he planned to marry her and keep her as a pretty ornament. If he had to marry someone, it might as well be her. Above all, he wanted a wife who knew her place.

Xiao Yi came from humble beginnings, while Xu Qinghan was willing to marry beneath her station. What she valued, naturally, was the position of general's wife. If she had to marry someone, it might as well be him. Wealth and status were what mattered.

One offered false flattery: "The great general is so valiant. Who wouldn't admire him?" The other smiled sweetly, hiding a blade: "Miss Xu is gentle and virtuous. I like her very much."

When Xu Qinghan was young, she moved south with her family. As they passed through a checkpoint, officials were searching for escaped slaves, and a young man was caught. She lashed his back with her whip. "You worthless slave, hurry up! What are you dawdling for?"

That one lash nearly killed the boy. When he woke, he made things difficult for her at every turn, treating her with contempt and calling her a witch.

Back then, the two of them were bitter enemies.

They met again on their wedding night, when fate brought the former enemies together. They both recognized each other. One sobered up in an instant: "Witch! Xu the Wooden! What?" The other felt her heart sink: "You worthless slave... General?"

Xiao Yi: I married her...

Xu Qinghan: I'm in his hands...

They both thought they were done for.

Bonus scene:

One day, Xu Qinghan held a riding crop and offered her fair, delicate shoulder to Xiao Yi. "General, if you're still angry, why don't you give me a lash too, to get even?"

Her soft, delicate beauty made Xiao Yi feel warm all over. Suddenly, he recalled the crude jokes the rough soldiers used to tell in the old days. He narrowed his eyes and smiled. "No need for that."

*Set in an imaginary world, no historical research required.

*A serious story, with the occasional silly, absurd moment.

Premise: A wife can bring her husband honor and glory by always spurring him on to improve.