After Deciding Not to Marry My Cousin

The blurb was screenshotted on March 23, 2023

Shen Jinse was the legitimate fourth daughter of the Duke of Zhenguo's household, born alluring and delicate, gentle and charming.

But then she was told that she had been switched at birth, and that the real daughter was someone else. She was only a fisherman's daughter, and her birth parents had died in a storm while fishing. Soon, she would be left homeless.

Fortunately, her adoptive mother couldn't bear to abandon her and sent her to her own family, the Prince of Qi's household. To outsiders, Shen Jinse was introduced as a distant cousin staying with them temporarily.

The heir to the Prince of Qi, Xie Jinghui, had made a name for himself at a young age. A triumphant general who had won countless battles, he returned victorious one day, and the household threw a banquet to welcome him home.

That night, Shen Jinse went to the wrong room and was dragged inside by someone.

When Shen Jinse, the cousin staying with them, turned seventeen, the elders began arranging a marriage for her. She rejected every match. Later, when they asked whom she wanted to marry, she said with great seriousness, "My husband can't be too ugly or too short, and he absolutely can't look as fierce as Cousin Jinghui. He should smell nice, come from a wealthy family, and be ambitious."

The elders privately scolded her for being vain. She should take a good look at her own status instead of treating their prince's household like a temple where she could pray for whatever she wanted.

Before long, the gossip reached Xie Jinghui's ears.

That night, Shen Jinse huddled in a corner, eyes misty with tears, trembling as she looked at Xie Jinghui seated above her.

He tapped his fingers lightly on the table and smiled.

"I heard you're vain. I'm the very picture of vanity, so why not be enamored with me?"

One-on-one, both sexually inexperienced, happy ending.

Cover used with permission from @zdc.

Theme: When you turn around, the one you seek is standing in the dim light.