The Woman in the Spring Boudoir of My Dreams

[Coercive Possession, Female Lead Has Previous Sexual Experience, Pragmatic and Self-Interested Heroine]

Pei Xiu had just gained a capable subordinate. The man came from a poor family, worked hard, knew how to read a room, and was talented. Pei Xiu was very pleased with him, except for his wife.

Su Wan was vulgar, unreasonable, and clumsy. Pei Xiu had disliked her from the first moment he saw her.

"This woman comes from humble origins. Now that you've entered officialdom, why not divorce her and find a woman from a branch of a prominent family? At least she won't embarrass you in public."

"Though my wife may not understand the ways of the world, she stayed by my side when I was a nobody in plain clothes. How could I cast her aside now like a worn-out sandal?" his subordinate politely declined.

Pei Xiu saw the figure of a woman outside the window, coming to look for her husband. What a pity, he thought. He quietly told his attendants to drive Su Wan away when she came looking for him.

The next day, he heard that the couple had quarreled after his subordinate returned home.

A thousand-mile dyke can be breached by an ant hole. Once a rift appears, the cracks will only grow wider. Pei Xiu gave a soft snort. Sooner or later, he would make his subordinate divorce his wife and drive that woman out of the capital.

But unexpectedly, before Su Wan could be divorced, he was the one who developed feelings for her.

Her husband had been framed and thrown into prison, leaving Su Wan no choice but to seek help from his superior, the very man who disliked her. Knowing Pei Xiu couldn't stand her, she covered her face with a veil and lowered her head.

But the man lifted her chin and brushed the veil aside. "If you want to save him, all you have to do is spend one night with me, Madam."

Su Wan was stunned. The man misunderstood her reaction and said impatiently, "You don't want to? What does he have that makes you like him so much?"

With no choice but to ask him for help, Su Wan answered honestly, "He has no parents, gives me all his salary, and doesn't take concubines."

Pei Xiu: ...

After the night had passed, Su Wan was tying her sash, thinking it was all over, when she heard the man's voice behind her. "I have no parents either. I don't take concubines, and my salary is higher than his."

Su Wan: ?

*

With a beauty in his arms, Pei Xiu thought that Su Wan couldn't have loved her husband all that much after all.

Only later did he realize that it wasn't that Su Wan didn't love her husband. She didn't love anyone. She only loved herself.

Later still, Pei Xiu saw Su Wan heartbroken and distraught over a man who didn't return her feelings. Only then did he understand that Su Wan wasn't incapable of love. She simply didn't love him.

*

They met again in Jiangnan. Su Wan had just been rejected by the young man she liked, and when she looked up, she saw Pei Xiu.

The man spoke mockingly. "Didn't you say back then you'd be happier without a man? Why are you chasing after one now, only to be rejected?"

Su Wan only heard the second half and, as straightforward as ever, replied, "He looks down on me because I've been married before. Waaaah."

Seeing her crying like a flower in the rain, Pei Xiu's heart softened at last. He pulled her into his arms. "...Stop crying. I'll go beat him up for you."

*

Bonus Scene:

One day at a banquet, Pei Xiu left after getting drunk, then realized he'd forgotten something and returned. There, he discovered someone gossiping about his wife behind his back.

"That Su Wan clearly isn't a decent woman. She's even been married before..."

Before the man could finish, Pei Xiu rushed over and kicked him flying. "Who's talking about my wife behind her back? So what if she's been married before? I like women who've been married before!"

The next day, the capital's officials split into two groups. One group hid their wives away, refusing to let Pei Xiu meet them. The other deliberately married several beautiful women as concubines, then sent them straight to Pei Xiu's residence.

Pei Xiu: ...

As he looked at the various women who had been sent to him, all wearing married women's hairstyles, Pei Xiu was still trying to decide what to do when a maid came over and said:

"My lord, Madam says you'll be sleeping in the study from now on."

Theme: You don't need to change. The person who loves you will love you as you are.