The Moon in the Well

[An old work that still needs editing. Don't read it!!]

Xu Mingyue was the daughter of a Jiangnan bookseller. At her father's bidding, she married the poor scholar Fu Pinglin.

After years of hard work, all she got in return was a husband who passed the imperial exams and won a princess's favor, while his family took the opportunity to divorce her.

Xu Mingyue confronted the princess in the street, but justice was no match for power.

Just as someone was about to douse her with cold water, a cloak suddenly settled over her shoulders.

The powerful chief minister, whose authority eclipsed even the sovereign's, lowered his brows and looked at her. "My lady, Shen is late."

-

After marrying the chief minister, Xu Mingyue was always anxious about living under someone else's roof, and could only hope they would divorce one day.

The noblewomen throughout the city waited to see how the chief minister, known for his mercurial temperament, would treat this twice-married divorcee.

But all they got for their wait was the wildly popular "Xu" Bookshop in Shuntian Prefecture.

The bookshop was frequented by great scholars from across the land and nobles from the capital. Its sole proprietor was a woman, whose every movement was as graceful as a willow in the breeze.

At first, there were rumors and gossip: How could a woman run a business? What did a woman know about books?

Then the chief minister paid the shop a visit, and after spending some time in the imperial prison, no one said such things anymore.

-

Xu Mingyue's first impression of Shen Qian was the cloak he draped over her outside the Fu residence.

Later came the refugee crisis, and the ten-mile stretch of porridge shelters set up outside the city.

Gradually, that image changed into the thousands of lanterns at the Qixi Festival, illuminating the entire moat.

Only in the end did she realize that his rescue of her outside the Fu residence had been staged, and that the porridge distribution outside the city had also been an act put on for her to see.

Shen Qian was never the noble gentleman he seemed. What he wanted was exactly what he'd said at the Qixi Festival: "Just you, my lady."

[A gentle yet strong-willed Jiangnan beauty with the world at heart vs. a chief minister bent on stealing another man's wife, who doesn't want anyone to discover that he's the chief minister]

Theme: A sheltered young woman breaks free from feudal constraints