After learning that her husband had died on the front lines, Junzhi had no time to grieve. Instead, she felt relieved, packed her things, and set off for the capital.
A few days earlier, when she learned that she was actually the eldest legitimate daughter of the main branch of the Duke of Britain’s household, she had already been debating whether to tell him everything when the family letter arrived. She couldn’t put off their divorce any longer.
When she found him a year ago, Junzhi had thought that if she could take him as her husband, life might be a little easier from then on.
Who could have guessed that after they married, he would act like a mute except when burying himself in hard work in bed? She could hardly have a conversation with him. Their life together was truly miserable.
Now that he was gone, Junzhi had no intention of remaining a widow. She returned to Shengjing and happily became the eldest daughter of the Jiang family.
As for this marriage, she would simply pretend it had never happened, so it wouldn’t get in the way of finding a new match.
*
Shen Sui was recognized by his subordinates on the battlefield. Before long, his memories returned. Just as he was preparing to send a letter home to report that he was safe, his subordinates learned that he had a wife and feared they would be unable to explain his absence. So they took it upon themselves to falsely claim that he had died in battle.
When he returned victorious and thought of going to find her, he learned that a fire had broken out in the middle of the night not long before. The little courtyard had burned to ashes, and surely she had perished in it.
Just as Shen Sui returned to the capital, his heart turned to ash, to report for duty, he discovered that the eldest daughter newly brought back into the Duke of Britain’s household looked exactly like his deceased wife.
What was more, his stepmother was arranging a marriage between her and his family, hoping to marry her to the youngest son.
Fine. If she was going to join his family, it didn’t matter which one she married.
So, on the night Junzhi entered the household, Shen Sui held her by the window and, using the pose she knew best, made her look at the moon all night.
Draft completed on 2024.7.28 and saved.
Theme: The white gull soars freely. Who could tame it across ten thousand miles?
