Marrying into a Prestigious Family

The Yun family had served as officials for generations, but during Lord Yun's time, they were demoted several times in a row and the entire family moved to Sui.

Sui was the fief of the Prince of Guangnan. The prince had two sons. His eldest was outstanding and talented, and much favored by the prince. Looking at the family's ever-dwindling fortunes, Lord Yun pondered all night and decided to marry off his daughter to him.

To his dismay, the eldest son was already engaged. Just as Lord Yun was losing hope, the Prince of Guangnan sent a reply: "My second son, Shen Yu, is still unmarried. It would be fine to take her as a secondary wife first."

Lord Yun could not bear to part with his beloved daughter, but he did not dare disobey. At his wits' end, he suddenly remembered the daughter he had by a mistress, whom he had barely seen.

Delighted, Lord Yun married Yun Duo off to the prince's family.

Yun Duo had relied on her mother since childhood. It was only when they had to move one day that she learned she was the illegitimate daughter of the increasingly impoverished Yun family.

But acknowledging her family brought her no better life. Every day, she still had to push her sweet-soup cart out to scrape by.

People urged her to set up across the street, by the busy marketplace. Yun Duo only shook her head gently, though her gaze secretly drifted to the handsome young man enjoying tea upstairs across the way.

*

Yun Duo once thought that before she married, she should take every chance to see him, even if only one more time. She never dreamed that the husband her birth father had chosen for her would be Shen Yu, the bright-eyed, elegant gentleman who was always leaning by the window.

She entered the prince's residence with a heart full of unease. On their wedding night, she did not even see her husband, and sat alone until dawn.

She heard that he already had someone he loved.

Yun Duo smiled bitterly, silently put away her affection, and dutifully stayed alone in her room.

Not long afterward, at Shen Yu's coming-of-age ceremony, the Prince of Guangnan arranged for him to marry the woman he loved.

Shen Yu seemed delighted, and drank until he was completely out of his senses...

As the tide of passion surged, Yun Duo thought that it was time for her to withdraw.

After their wild night, Shen Yu had not even gotten out of bed when his usually quiet and gentle bedmate said in a trembling voice, "I am unworthy. I ask only for a letter of divorce."

Shen Yu still looked as indifferent as ever, but his gaze lingered on her flushed face for a long time...

*

Another year passed, and a great upheaval rocked the royal palace. Shen Yu inherited the throne.

By then, Yun Duo was the proprietress of a porridge shop outside the city. Her days were not too busy, and she lived comfortably enough, though she often stared at the moon in a daze.

Then one day, a customer came into the shop.

Every day, from opening until closing, the man sat in the same spot. He neither bothered her nor left.

When night fell, he finally pleaded with Yun Duo, "My wife abandoned me, and I have no money. Could you take pity on me and let me stay on as a waiter to work off my porridge?"

Reader's Guide: One-on-one + happy ending + both each other's first.

1. The leads have only ever been with each other, in body and heart.

2. The male lead is not a scumbag.

Theme: Communication matters