Shen Yu knew her husband wouldn't live long, but she never expected him to die so soon, or to be so rich.
Everyone was stunned. The woman he'd hastily married to bring him good luck had actually become a wealthy young widow from a marquis's household. At once, the hearts of the poor but noble young men throughout the court began to stir.
In her first month at the manor, Shen Yu became a widow.
In her second month, she learned from the noblewomen how to visit pleasure houses.
In her third month, she came up with an efficient way to rate and categorize the handsome men who offered themselves to her. Life was wonderful.
The Marquis of Nanping had won great distinction through years of military campaigns. To avoid arousing the ruler's suspicions, he willingly took charge of guarding the imperial tombs and lived in seclusion, ill and alone.
One year, his old illness returned, and he had little time left. He had no choice but to return to the capital to recuperate. Through an arrangement, he welcomed a sweet, sheltered young woman into his household, hoping to start a family and bring his life to a satisfying close.
Unwilling to ruin the future of a woman in the prime of her youth, he told her before he died that she could remarry.
She wept until her face was wet with tears, her heart breaking as she said,
