Baozhu was a maid to the young lady of the Earl's household. Every day she served her mistress dutifully, hoping to earn enough reward money to buy her freedom as soon as possible.
One day, her mistress fell in love at first sight with a man.
The man was poor, no more than a low-ranking officer in the army, but he was like a flower atop a high mountain, handsome and refined.
Her mistress wanted to marry him, but she had been disfigured as a child and never dared let anyone see her face. She knew she had little chance of winning his heart.
So her mistress set her sights on Baozhu.
Baozhu was lowborn, but stunningly beautiful, with a slender waist like a swaying willow branch.
Her mistress told Baozhu to impersonate her and seduce the man, Yin Xueqi. When the wedding day came, Baozhu would leave, and her mistress would take her place as his bride.
Baozhu was afraid. "Wouldn't he discover we'd switched places on our wedding night?"
Her mistress smiled faintly. "By then, the wedding rites will be complete. Would a down-on-his-luck commoner like him dare fall out with my earl's family?"
She stroked Baozhu's face with a sharp fingernail. "If this works, I'll free you from your servitude."
Trembling, Baozhu agreed.
Baozhu pretended to be her mistress and tried her best to seduce Yin Xueqi.
But it wasn't easy.
Yin Xueqi might have had a handsome face, but he was aloof and indifferent, vindictive, dark, and caustic.
He was not a good man at all.
Baozhu endured him at every turn, fawning on him and exhausting every scheme she could think of. At last, on a summer night, she won him over.
That day, rain poured outside. Yin Xueqi pushed her onto the wooden bed in the military tent and kissed her in a daze.
Baozhu's clothes were all undone. His hand tugged at the last thin ribbon around her waist.
Baozhu stopped him just in time and panted, "We can't do this until we're married."
So the next day, Yin Xueqi went to the Earl's household to propose.
On the wedding day, her mistress sat on the bridal bed while Baozhu happily left with the deed freeing her from servitude.
Only when he lifted the bride's red veil did Yin Xueqi realize he'd been deceived.
The Changning Earl's household used its power to force him to accept the marriage. Yin Xueqi smashed the nuptial wine in a rage and walked away.
He went straight to the borderlands.
Seven years later, Yin Xueqi returned with a string of military victories.
By then, he was the terrifying Marquis of Jingnan.
Now he could have anything he wanted, and it seemed the past ought to be forgotten.
But Yin Xueqi couldn't forget.
For seven years, every time he closed his eyes, he had the same dream.
In the dream, that woman was stripped of her clothes and knelt before him, weeping and saying she was sorry. He never forgave her. Instead, he tormented her again and again, taking the most despicable revenge...
The more often he dreamed it, the more it became an illness.
Yin Xueqi grew more and more sinister, clingy, frightening, and deranged.
Then one day, while suppressing bandits, he passed through a small town.
There was a tofu shop in town. A slender woman in an apron stood inside, smiling as she welcomed customers.
Yin Xueqi looked at the face that had appeared in his dreams countless times, his pupils contracting with excitement.
He had found her.
At last, he could do whatever he wanted in real life, just as he had in his dreams.
[Blurb archived]
Theme: A daydream come true
