Main story complete
[Money-and-power-loving heiress bent on revenge x a scheming minister who deludes himself into falling in love]
On the day she learned that Lu Jian, heir to the Duke of Qi and Commander of the Guards, had died, Fu Wanyin, who had been ill for a long time, struggled to rise and offered Lu Jian a distant libation of cold wine.
But Fu Wanyin died too.
Her mother-in-law and cousin looked down at her from above, while her usually generous and kind husband, Lin Chiqian, never showed his face.
Reborn in a single turn, Fu Wanyin returned to the day Lin Chiqian proposed to her.
Her gaze clear, she slowly uttered three words: "I don't wish to."
Fu Wanyin then went to the Duke of Qi's residence of her own accord, presented a token, and revived their old betrothal.
Everyone in town said the Fu family's daughter must have gone mad.
It had rained all day. Fu Wanyin stood in the courtyard, soaked through, as Lu Jian approached with an umbrella. His handsome face seemed veiled in a thin mist, impossible to see clearly.
"What can you do?"
"Wherever the heir cannot reach, Wanyin will devote herself wholeheartedly."
"Unfortunately, there is nothing my blade cannot cut down." Lu Jian turned away.
"Lu Jian." He turned back. All he saw was rainwater running from Fu Wanyin's brows as she approached him step by step and looked straight into his eyes.
"What if it's the imperial family?"
No one had ever thought the marriage between Madam Fu and Lord Lu would work. People wagered that the two would divorce within three years.
When Lu Jian heard the gossip, he merely sneered. After all, he and Fu Wanyin had always been nothing more than a married couple in name.
Unexpectedly, on a damp spring night, Fu Wanyin knocked on his door. "Wanyin requests leave to depart."
Lu Jian's foxlike eyes fixed on Wanyin. His voice was calm. "Between us, is it only a transaction?"
Fu Wanyin's peach-blossom eyes, usually smiling, looked at him unruffled. "What else?"
[Bonus Scene]
Everyone in the capital knew that the person one should least offend was not Lu Jian, Commander of the Guards, but Madam Fu of the Sifang Pavilion.
Madam Fu's beauty was the least remarkable thing about her. In just two years, she had turned the obscure Sifang Pavilion into the biggest restaurant in the whole capital, enough to reveal her skill.
But the Sifang Pavilion welcomed guests according to Madam Fu's whims. Whether a high-ranking official's family or a peddler, anyone who earned a cup of tea from Madam Fu was sure to have their wish granted.
After work, Lu Jian thought he would stop by the Sifang Pavilion for a cup of tea, but a notice at the entrance stopped him.
That night, the dignified Commander of the Guards climbed over the wall into Madam Fu's courtyard and whispered by her window, "Yinyin."
Yinyin, like the music of the clouds; a virtuous name never forgotten. (The source of the heroine's childhood name.)
[Reading Guide]
[1] In her previous life, the heroine was naive and obedient; in this life, she grows over time.
[2] The male lead is no upright gentleman. He deludes himself into falling in love.
[3] The second male lead does not appear in the blurb; he is the heroine's cousin.
[4] A fictional setting blending elements of the Song and Ming dynasties.
[5] Updates at noon; other times are for fixing typos. Welcome, dear readers, to bookmark and comment.
Theme: I hold the knife, and others are the meat. There can be no renewal without breaking with the past
Will there be any extras for the teacher? 🙏
Tied! Big, very powerful
Are they Erlang and Sanlang of the Xu family?
The collection is not increasing, maybe because the current progress is relatively slow + there are more works of the same type. [Hold up my chin] Come on, madam, the writing is good, and it will be popular sooner or later [Let me be healthy]
"The dying worm is not dead." Catch a big worm for the author~ A centipede insect, dead but not dead?