Xu Yourong's birth mother, Madam You, had come from a brothel. At the height of her youth and beauty, she was taken in as a concubine in the General's Residence.
Xu Yourong inherited her figure and beauty, as well as the skills her mother taught her for winning over men.
Later, she met the Crown Prince, Xue Lanxun, who had come to study at the General's Residence. Following her mother's instructions, she tried every trick in the book, from arranging chance encounters to pretending to fall. Yet Xue Lanxun remained as composed and untouchable as ever.
At last, she was out of options. She resorted to Madam You's final lesson and took out the packet of medicinal powder she'd kept hidden away, adding it to Xue Lanxun's tea.
That night, Xue Lanxun gripped her wrist tightly and demanded furiously, “You're still so young. Who taught you to do these things?”
Xu Yourong had never seen him so angry. She could only lower her head and mumble, “My mother taught me.”
Xue Lanxun seemed not to have expected that answer. After a long silence, he finally said, “Your mother is wrong.”
Xu Yourong froze. She instinctively raised her head to look at him. “Then... what is right?”
Xue Lanxun took two years to answer that question.
During the two years he stayed at the General's Residence, he taught her poetry, books, and etiquette, as well as many lessons about how to conduct herself in the world.
Later, he returned to the capital.
After Xu Yourong came of age, her marriage was arranged.
In her letters, she wrote about many things. Xue Lanxun's reply asked only one question: Do you love him?
Xu Yourong said she did.
So Xue Lanxun assumed she was happy.
But less than half a year later, the covert guard he'd sent to make inquiries told him that she'd been married for only half a month when her husband took his white moonlight as a concubine. From then on, he ignored her, his principal wife, while her mother-in-law looked down on her because of her mother's background and made life difficult for her at every turn...
Xue Lanxun's expression darkened, his eyes seeming to freeze over.
“Go to Qingzhou,” he said. “I will bring her back.”
Theme: Learn how to conduct yourself in the world
