A Guide to Winning Over a Delicate Young Lady

Leng Banxiang lost her father and elder brother when she was thirteen. To care for her young sister and frail mother, she took on her brother's identity and became the head of the family. Over the next seven years, she distinguished herself in battle and became a young general of great renown. When she finally returned to the capital with her troops, her little sister was much as she remembered, but her mother had been replaced by someone else entirely.

The woman said her name was Shen Yuxiu, and that she was her stepmother.

She said she had been an old friend of Leng Banxiang's mother. Since Leng Banxiang was away for so long, her mother had feared the servants might mistreat her younger daughter while she was seriously ill, so she had given Shen Yuxiu the title of a second wife.

Leng Banxiang thought her mother's decision was utterly absurd. But Shen Yuxiu had cared for her little sister for three years, and the girl could not bear to be without her. Leng Banxiang could not throw her out of the house, so she went along with her sister and called her, "Stepmother."

She was not close to Shen Yuxiu, and often found herself looking at the delicate, frail woman and privately questioning her mother's judgment.

As it turned out, mother really did know best. She had excellent taste.

Shen Yuxiu could not only manage the household and care for her little sister, but also beguile Leng Banxiang's heart.

Shen Yuxiu was young and beautiful, and knew how to charm a woman. It would be a shame for her to remain a widow for someone she had never known. She might as well marry Leng Banxiang instead. That way, they would still be family.

Shen Yuxiu firmly believed that one should repay the gift of being saved with one's hand in marriage, especially when one's rescuer was young and beautiful. So when sixteen-year-old Leng Banxiang saved her, Shen Yuxiu genuinely wanted to marry her. The ten-year age gap did not put her off, nor did Leng Banxiang being a woman. But the fact that she was her dear friend's eldest daughter did give her pause.

If she could not marry her, perhaps caring for her friend's little sister would count as repaying her kindness.

She never expected her friend to die so suddenly. She had only planned to look after the girl for a year or two, but now she could not get away, and she had gained the title of stepmother as well.

She had never wanted that, but then she realized Leng Banxiang did not even recognize her anymore.

Shen Yuxiu was a little petty. Watching Leng Banxiang reluctantly bow to her because her little sister was tugging at her, she chuckled inwardly: Serves you right!

If she could not marry her, being her stepmother was not so bad.

At least Leng Banxiang would remember her forever.

Shen Yuxiu had made up her mind to be her stepmother for the rest of her life. She never expected Leng Banxiang to lose her mind and suddenly ask to marry her.

Huh?

Did she ever say she wanted to marry her?

[Extra Scene]

The capital was never short of gossip. Lately, the streets and alleys were abuzz with rumors that the handsome young general still had not married, not because she preferred women, but because she was in love with her stepmother. The rumors grew wilder by the day, and so did the stories about the young general and her stepmother.

Shen Yuxiu read the first drafts of seven different stories in a row. The more she read, the more familiar the handwriting looked.

Shen Yuxiu: Leng Banxiang, did you write these stories?

Leng Banxiang: You've read them, Stepmother? Were they any good?

Shen Yuxiu: I think you must be quite ill.

Leng Banxiang: Yes, lovesick. I'll recover if you marry me. Did you come here today to be my medicine, Stepmother?

Shen Yuxiu: ...

Reading guide:

1. HE

2025/5/2

Theme: Head toward the sunlight