Shiwei's found husband was handsome as a jade tree and exceptionally eloquent. Everyone around her who had been waiting to see the poor orphan make a fool of herself was green with envy.
She cherished this one and only family member in the world, too. She had planned to trade the ginseng for farmland, but instead she spent it all on medicine to treat his injuries. For some reason, though, her husband was determined to return to the capital, and Shiwei was at her wits' end.
The auntie next door told her that having a child would tie the man down. Late that night, Shiwei pinned him to the new bamboo bed. At a loss about what to do, she clumsily kissed him a few times. Satisfied, she tried to leave, but he caught her around the waist, his eyes red.
Pei Junluo was the crown prince, born to the empress. He excelled in both civil and military affairs and possessed both virtue and talent. As the ministers hoped, he was wise and clear-sighted. If all went well, he would naturally ascend the throne and rule the nation.
Yet this very man fell into a deep ravine and became indebted to a country woman who expected repayment for saving his life.
He watched coldly as she bustled around caring for him, turning his nose up at her coarse ways. How could a woman like her ever be worthy of a nobleman of the imperial family like him?
She was an orphan with no illustrious family and no refinement. Calling him “husband” every other word, she had completely cast aside all propriety and shame.
When her warm touch brushed his lips late that night, Pei Junluo's brow twitched. Was this woman really clueless, or was she pretending?
He gritted his teeth, breathing in the faint, elegant scent at the tip of his nose, and sighed. Never mind. She had saved his life, after all.
Once he returned to the Eastern Palace, he could make an exception and keep her by his side as a concubine. Given Shiwei's status, that would more than repay her kindness. Anything more was pure delusion on her part.
But one night later, just as Shiwei was about to blow out the lamp, she saw the incomparable, proud man already lying on her bed, stubbornly claiming that he would repay her for saving his life by giving himself to her.
Later, Shiwei's husband said he had to go home for a visit, but then vanished without a trace.
Shiwei waited a long time. All she received was a thick stack of banknotes and a letter telling her to forget everything.
It turned out that the man was the crown prince. No wonder he'd looked down on her.
Her lips trembled, but she said nothing and shed not a single tear.
Why waste the effort? All she wanted was a home.
So many people in this world had deceived her, Shiwei. One more didn't make much difference.
A lively tavern opened in the capital. Smiling brightly, Shiwei sized up the young men of Jinling gathered outside as she held her abacus, wondering if she might pick one to be her husband. Then she saw a group of them suddenly scatter like startled birds and beasts.
The new emperor's carriage had stopped outside.
The new emperor, who ought to have been seated on the throne in court, clenched his fingers beneath the sleeves of his black dragon robe. His face was murderous, but his voice was full of desperate longing for what he could not have.
“Shiwei, don't look at them.”
I beg you, could you look only at me?
Theme: Hard work always pays off
