After years of scheming, everything came to nothing. Lu Yunshang, the eldest daughter of the Duke's estate and hailed as the capital's most talented woman, was cruelly jilted. Her fiance immediately married a princess, making her a laughingstock throughout the capital.
The next day, she received an imperial decree ordering her to marry the Heir of the Prince of Zhenbei, a man notorious for his bloodlust, countless killings, rough manners, hot temper, and aversion to women, recently reclaimed by the Prince of Zhenbei after falling into hardship on the frontier.
At the time, Lu Yunshang was utterly disheartened. She merely pretended to go along with everything, planning to earn a title for herself, then find a way to divorce him, establish her own residence, and bring her mother there. After that, she would cut herself off from love and live freely.
What she never expected was that the heir was nothing like the rumors. Instead, he was considerate at every turn, yet everyone bullied him. His father showed him no affection, his stepmother did not care for him, and even the servants mocked him. He was so illiterate that he could not even understand their veiled insults, only chuckling foolishly and thinking they were showing him kindness.
Unable to bear watching, Lu Yunshang protected the heir again and again, putting off her plans for divorce time and again. Then, one dark and stormy night, she saw the heir's eyes glowing a terrifying green as he raised a huge hammer in the moonlight, trying to smash her former fiance's head in.
"You son of a bitch! You keep trying to seduce my wife, over and over. Had enough yet? I'll send you to the afterlife right now!"
Lu Yunshang: "?"
Weren't you supposed to be weak, pitiful, and helpless?
The heir dropped the hammer with a bang and dashed over to her. Holding up a finger that was already healing, he put on a pitiful expression. "My lady, someone just picked on me. It was so scary, and it hurt so much. Boo-hoo."
The former fiance, who had just been picked on: "?"
At the wedding banquet, someone said that the heir was cruel and merciless, couldn't read a single character, and had no ambition. He was completely unworthy of the heir's bride. Only Shen Lü, the most talented scholar in the court, was worthy of her, but their happy match had been ruined by Princess Rongle.
Xie Jingnuo scoffed at the remark and turned to leave the estate.
That night, the heir carried a bundle of books into their bridal chamber and asked eagerly, "My lady, how should I interpret this poem?"
"Does 'The grass grows thick across the plain' mean that a good horse doesn't return to old pastures, so we should stay far away? And does 'Wildfire cannot burn it all away' mean that some people seem upright and respectable but are actually complete hypocrites, and there are so many of them that no fire can ever burn them all away?"
Lu Yunshang: "...???"
[Reading guide]
1. Refined and brilliant female scholar x rough, pitiful man.
2. Married first, love later; slice-of-life with a touch of ensemble cast.
3. Fictional setting, so please don't nitpick historical accuracy.
Theme: Hard work will bring a better future
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Road Survival: I Have a Door
Little Junior Sister, Please, Just Curse Them
After Inheriting a Mountain of Gold, I Cultivated Immortality by Throwing Money Around
After the Palace Intrigue Mission Failed
The Transmigrate Into a Book Side Character Reaches the Top of the Cultivation World by Finding Hidden Treasures