Shi Tao was the daughter of a local gentry family, with rosy cheeks and a lovely, charming face. After coming of age, she married Xu Youqian, the most talented scholar in the area. Their life together was simple and happy. But when her husband returned from the imperial examinations, he had become the newly enthroned emperor. Shi Tao, his first wife, became a thorn in the side of all the noble ladies. Before she had even settled into the empress's seat, she "died in childbirth."
When she opened her eyes again, she had returned to the year she came of age, before she married him. Whoever wanted to be an empress who died young could have the job. She didn't care for the empty title.
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Xu Youqian was cold-hearted and conventional, and looked down on women who were frivolous, overbearing, and spoiled. But his mother coveted the gentry family's ten mu of good farmland and generous dowry, and arranged his marriage without his permission. The Shi family's daughter was as beautiful as a celestial maiden, but she was spoiled, unruly, and extravagant, hardly the makings of a good wife. But a parent's word was not to be disobeyed, so Xu Youqian could only agree.
Later, he returned home after placing first in the imperial examinations, only to be told that their engagement had long since been called off and his beloved had found someone else. He should have been glad, but it felt as if his heart had been ripped out.
The top scholar put away the jade hairpin he had prepared so carefully, angrily cornered her in a narrow alley, and said coldly, "You don't want me? Do you think that's up to you?"
The beauty's eyes filled with tears. Angry, afraid, and aggrieved, she said, "I know you despise me. I was willful and forced you into this before. Now we're even..."
His face darkened. Furious, he silenced her incessant chatter with a kiss.
Once you're engaged, don't even think about breaking it off!
Theme: Persevere and grow strong
