● Weibo: @Jinjiang Xuehen
● Opening after reaching 400 followers
A devoted couple, HE
[Gentle, Refined, Sweet on the Outside but Dark Within Heroine x Love-Starved, Sharp-Tongued, Brooding Hero]
Tan Yushu, the son of Songzhou's prefect, lost his birth mother to illness when he was young. His father then brought his mistress into the household, along with a son six months older than Tan Yushu.
From then on, Tan Yushu was neglected. The attention and honors of the entire household all went to the bastard he despised most.
The Jiang family, originally betrothed to the Tan family, fell from grace. Tan Yushu's father thought the girl was unworthy of his eldest son, so he switched the marriage arrangement and gave her to Tan Yushu instead.
More than a month into their marriage, he still had no idea how to get along with the woman who was his wife in name only.
It was Jiang Shiqing who first smiled and spoke to him, and who gently applied medicine after his father whipped him.
Following her guidance, Tan Yushu steadily rose higher and went further in the official world, until he had thoroughly trampled underfoot the father and brother who had looked down on him.
Two years after marrying Jiang Shiqing, the hurt and jealousy no longer haunted Tan Yushu's dreams. At last, he could sleep peacefully, without a care.
*
Until one day, Tan Yushu returned home early from work and saw Jiang Shiqing resting a hand on her belly as she spoke with someone. Her expression was as gentle as ever, but her words were as cold as a blade: "Him? I was only using him."
The pastries he was carrying fell to the ground. Tan Yushu was so devastated that tears sprang to his eyes.
For the past few years, to clear the Jiang family's name, he had put away every thorn and sharp edge, following Jiang Shiqing's arrangements to become a smooth-talking civil official.
The political world was a treacherous place, but at home, the tenderness and warmth he cherished gave him strength again and again.
It turned out that all of it was a vast web woven by Jiang Shiqing, binding him fast with no hope of escape for the rest of his life.
*
Reading guide:
1. Set in an imaginary world, with a jumble of historical elements and lots of original details. Please don't nitpick.
2. The leads are mutually devoted. The blurb features a misunderstanding; they won't separate.
3. It's probably a short story, depending on the response. It could grow longer.
4. I hope you'll leave lots of comments. Paragraph comments are enabled with no restrictions.
5. Screenshots of the blurb have been taken. Don't plagiarize the premise.
Theme: Love should never be taken for granted
