The Madam Has Had Enough

This novel is complete. Please support the official version! "Bows" My new novel, "The Useless Beauty", is now underway.

When Yu Wanyao married Lu Heng, she was told that she had to bear a child for the Lu family. The baby's umbilical cord blood would be used as an ingredient in medicine for Lu Heng's frail, unrelated younger sister.

Yu Wanyao knew she could never measure up to the Lu family.

The entire Lu family was distinguished. Lu Heng was the legitimate son of the Marquis of Weiyuan and a high-ranking official at the Court of Judicial Review, with a bright future ahead of him.

His younger sister was the missing daughter of the Duke of Ying's household, raised in luxury by Lu Heng's stepmother and waiting to be acknowledged by the duke's family.

She was merely the daughter of a salt merchant from Jiangnan. Her father and brother had been falsely accused of selling illegal salt and thrown into prison, where they could be executed at any moment.

She needed Lu Heng to clear their names.

She and Lu Heng were only using each other. Lu Heng was cold-hearted and aloof, distant and indifferent. He came to her room only on a fixed day each month and never stayed the night.

Even so, she did her best to keep up appearances. Once she had given birth, she wouldn't object if he wanted a divorce.

Later, when she finally became pregnant, it should have been a happy occasion. But by chance, she learned the truth.

If the child were born, it would not survive.

She was no longer any use as his wife, and she would have to give her place to that younger sister. She would be demoted from wife to slave and sold off.

On a bleak, windy night, she boarded a ship to Jiangnan. When she looked back, she saw the man chasing after her along the shore, calling for her to come back.

Yu Wanyao wiped away her tears and decided to explain things to him. "I won't be your wife anymore. I'm going back to Jiangnan. We owe each other nothing."

But he kept shouting himself hoarse. This man was so strange, cold one moment and warm the next. She had never been able to understand him, and she no longer wanted to try.

When the ship sank, Lu Heng plunged into the water.

**

The Lu family's madam was gone. Lu Heng fell gravely ill and became a widower.

Six months later, the Duke of Ying's family found their true daughter. At a spring banquet, Lu Heng met her. She was alluring and refined, content to enjoy the attentions of the man beside her, without so much as a glance in his direction.

Content warnings and explanation of related controversy:

Regarding the umbilical cord blood in this novel: the fake heiress pretends to have a "mysterious illness." She and her mother deceive the heroine and hero into believing that umbilical cord blood can be used as an ingredient in medicine to cure the "illness." The umbilical cord blood is just an excuse here, and has nothing to do with modern medical uses of cord blood.

(1) Angsty, dramatic chase-your-wife-to-the-crematorium romance + fake and true heiress trope + running away while pregnant

(2) Aloof, untouchable hero x gentle Jiangnan beauty (the true heiress)

(3) One-on-one romance, both leads are each other's first, happy ending

The heroine on the cover was designed by @A Page of Books, Lushan

---- "The Useless Beauty" is now underway ----

Shen Qingyan was dressed as a boy by her concubine mother from birth, becoming the Earl's household's only illegitimate "son."

Her father, completely in the dark, hoped she would bring glory to the family.

He went to great lengths to get her into the Duke of Ying's family school and ordered her to make friends with young noblemen.

Her mother, meanwhile, wanted her to use the opportunity to climb the social ladder and marry into a powerful family.

Unfortunately, Shen Qingyan had only been given a face that could bring kingdoms to ruin, along with a dull and foolish personality.

Her classmates teased and bullied her, and no one befriended her sincerely.

At first, she grew close to her cousin Gu Mingyuan to seek his protection.

Her cousin was the legitimate son of the Duke of Ying, a refined and handsome young man with a cold disposition.

He had passed all three imperial examinations as a teenager, and by the time he came of age, he had become a junior official at the Court of Judicial Review.

She both respected and feared him, yet shamelessly clung to him all the same.

Later, she found out that the man she wanted to win over, the kind and gentle heir to the Marquis of Yong'an, was also close to her cousin.

So she clung to her cousin even more.

But her cousin's gaze grew more and more intense.

One day, she finally realized that her cousin had developed an improper desire for her.

But Shen Qingyan wanted to use his influence to win over the heir.

She clumsily flirted with her cousin, saying things that could be interpreted in all sorts of ways and asking him to set her up with the heir.

Her cousin grew colder and colder toward her, letting her openly flirt with his friend right in front of him.

Just as she thought she was about to rise to the top of society,

her true identity was exposed.

She was not the Earl's illegitimate "son."

She was just a bastard.

The Earl's household threw her out. Everyone despised her, and she had nowhere to go.

When she was at the end of her rope, she saw her cousin again. He stood before her like a breeze beneath a bright moon, a smile curling his lips as he reached out his hand.

She eagerly took it, and he lifted her up and hid her away in his family estate.

Later, she racked her brains and finally managed to get close to the heir behind her cousin's back. Just as she was happily waiting for the heir to come and marry her, her cousin arrived instead.

She had never seen her cousin like this. His gaze was icy and fierce, and he gripped her face, no longer able to restrain his fury.

"Who do you think would want you besides me?"

A foolish little beauty x an aloof, untouchable man. A dramatic, coercive romance.

Please note!

(1) Important! The heroine's identity is not exposed by the hero.

(2) The leads are not related by blood.

(3) One-on-one romance, both leads are each other's first!

Theme: When you turn around, the one you're looking for is waiting where the lights are dim