The Concubine-born Son's Beauty (Matriarchy)

Wei Ye is the illegitimate daughter of a high-ranking court official. She might have had a life better than some and worse than others, but her birth father was a servant who secretly slept with her mother while drunk, and her mother was devoted to a lifelong, monogamous love. Wei Ye became the blot on her mother and stepfather’s faithful romance: impossible to remove, impossible to wash away. She was proof of her birth father’s depravity and a sinner in the eyes of the entire Wei household. It was no surprise that she gradually grew twisted, becoming obsessive and ill-tempered, until she became the villain who abuses the protagonist in a tale. Nothing could be more predictable. * Wei Ye is still trying to make a living in the Wei household when she suddenly learns that the man she is about to marry is the protagonist, and that she herself is the cold, coercive, possessive ex-wife villain who will be divorced by him, mocked by the world, avenged upon by his lover, and left to die in the street, where her corpse will be mutilated. Wei Ye: ... In her memories, she chose the legitimate eldest son of the Qu family as her primary husband for one reason: her own illegitimate birth was a stigma. Even knowing she had a bad temper, Wei Ye would never admit she was at fault. Even if she was too controlling, kept too close an eye on him, and pushed him too hard, it was only human nature. If she didn’t guard what belonged to her, how could she expect to keep it when others were trying to take it? Wei Ye could only conclude that she had underestimated the legitimate son of the Qu family and ended up hurting herself with her own scheme. * Given another chance at life, Wei Ye can’t refuse a marriage into the Qu family. Her stepfather is eager for her to get engaged and marry some lowborn man, then get out of the Wei household as soon as possible. After much consideration, Wei Ye picks Qu Zhuoyan, the least remarkable of the lot. A man whose marriage proposal was once rejected, who seems ready to faint just from being looked at. Someone like that would be easy to keep in the palm of her hand, easy to leave gasping for breath, and certainly wouldn’t think of running away. * Qu Zhuoyan was diagnosed with a serious illness as a child. When speaking with others, he often suffers palpitations and struggles to speak, and in a crowd he becomes completely mute. In modern terms, he has “severe social anxiety disorder.” Though he is the illegitimate son of the Qu family’s second branch, he is also its only blood heir. His mother died, his stepfather remarried, and he was raised by his grandfather from childhood. He was once engaged, but his betrothed broke it off because he was illegitimate. Qu Zhuoyan had thought no one would ever ask for his hand, and was prepared to spend his life with the Buddha, when he suddenly won the favor of Second Miss Wei. His grandfather disapproved of the marriage. Even his cousin from the main branch, who had always looked down on him, came to warn him that although Wei Ye came from a higher-ranking family than the Qu family and was beautiful as jade, her true nature was repulsive. She was fickle and hated having the people around her disobey. Marrying her would be like entering a prison. At the slightest provocation, she would make wild accusations, and whenever things didn’t go her way, she would lock someone away in a tiny space where they couldn’t take a step. Life with her would be no life at all, more like that of a caged beast kept for amusement. Qu Zhuoyan, who had never liked leaving home and wanted his future wife to keep a tight rein on him, preferably taking care of everything herself and protecting him while he stayed comfortably out of sight: I like her so much. * Wei Ye thought maliciously that she had tricked him with her face. He thought she was mild-tempered, and once he learned the truth after the wedding, he would throw a fit and try to run, only to find himself unable to escape, crying and wiping away tears all day long. But the wedding passed, the visit to her parents passed, and a month went by. By the time Wei Ye had left the Wei family and set up her own household, she was a favorite of the emperor. Qu Zhuoyan hadn’t shed a single tear. Instead, he took advantage of her affection and clung to her all day, refusing to let her leave. When Wei Ye was worn down by his clinginess and finally relented, letting him go out for a stroll, he burst into tears at her words, leaving her flustered. Then he even asked, “Don’t you love me anymore?” Lord Wei had only wanted some peace and quiet to go to court, but she had ended up hurting herself with her own scheme again. A love-starved, socially anxious, clingy, obedient man with a slim waist, long legs, and fair skin × a courtly flatterer, a woman with an iron grip, a smiling schemer who knows no restraint Theme: Walk alongside those who share your wavelength, and find peace through the years