Something unusual happened in Qingzhou.
Song Chi, the butcher who sold pork in the west of town, was taller and sturdier than most women, yet at twenty-five, she still hadn't married.
Not long ago, she'd been carried into the manor to serve as a concubine-in-waiting to the marquis's daughter, a woman as graceful and lovely as jade. The young men across town all wept for her. How pitiful that the marquis's daughter would be defiled by a burly butcher, always covered in blood from slaughtering pigs...
Old Master Yu was quite pleased. His granddaughter was frail, so taking in someone strong enough to massage her waist and legs would make for good care. Song Chi seemed honest, too, and looked a little like the young man his granddaughter had once loved. He'd treat her like a possession, something to look at and remember by, and once she'd made peace with the past, he'd find her another husband from a suitable family, one who was refined and well-mannered.
At first, Yu Shizhou had only agreed because she didn't want to disappoint her elders. She paid Song Chi no mind at all, but couldn't resist her wholehearted devotion.
Even when the person she once loved returned, Yu Shizhou looked at the awkward little concubine-in-waiting beside her, all bluster and bravado, and never let go of the hand she held.
The aloof heroine who stands above the crowd x the honest, muscular hero who's a doting homemaker
Blurb written November 19, 2021
Content warnings:
1. Male pregnancy
2. The heroine has a former love, and at first sees the hero only as a concubine-in-waiting
Theme: Every trade has its champions
