The Little Lady's Daily Art of Doing Nothing

[Complete] The next novel, After Three Years as a Substitute Bride, is now available. Please add it to your favorites, lovelies~

Shen Yunying had a face like a hibiscus, alluring and voluptuous, the very picture of a natural beauty.

Though her grandfather was the Grand Tutor, her father had died young, leaving her and her mother like two invisible people in the Grand Tutor's residence.

Fortunately, her mother had a generous dowry and an open, easygoing nature. She raised Shen Yunying to live a lazy life, never worrying about anything and taking it all easy. Her widowed mother, who had been alone for many years, thought this was wonderful. Being comfortable was what mattered most. There was no need to take men too seriously.

Before Shen Yunying's coming-of-age ceremony, her mother had already chosen a nephew from her maiden family to be her son-in-law.

But people make plans, and Heaven laughs. Yan Peifeng, the most eligible bachelor in the capital, was about to take a wife!

Yan Peifeng was the Emperor's own nephew. He had delayed his marriage while observing mourning. Now the Empress was personally hosting a flower-viewing banquet and inviting all the noble young ladies of the capital to the palace.

Shen Yunying was forced to attend just to make up the numbers. Who would have thought that, in a daze, she would be chosen for an imperial marriage decree?

After a brief moment of surprise, Shen Yunying accepted it.

Marrying Yan Peifeng meant she would not have to serve her parents-in-law or other elders, nor deal with concubines and maids in the inner residence. She could still live a good life.

Yan Peifeng was a gentle and proper gentleman, wholly devoted to government affairs. He came to the rear residence on schedule on the first and fifteenth of every month. Shen Yunying enjoyed her life as a young noblewoman in the capital, and would sometimes return to the Grand Tutor's residence to visit her mother.

But one day, the mild-mannered gentleman Yan Peifeng suddenly changed his ways and started setting foot in the main bedroom every day. Shen Yunying was exhausted! After fretting for a long while, she finally got a heaven-sent opportunity: Yan Peifeng was leaving the capital to take up a post as a local official.

Shen Yunying had a sudden idea and took the chance to announce that she was pregnant and unfit for a long journey.

Unfortunately, she was carried onto the carriage by force. Yan Peifeng patiently coaxed her. “The scenery at West Lake is lovely. Haven't you always wanted to take your mother-in-law there? I can speak to the Grand Tutor's residence for you, all right? And you don't need to worry about anything in the rear residence either. I'll take care of it.”

Shen Yunying's beautiful eyes widened slightly. Well, that would work.

As a result, Yan Peifeng's reputation for spoiling his wife without restraint spread far and wide, making everyone envious.

Yan Peifeng was full of ambition, but after observing mourning for five years straight, he had been unable to enter government service. Once the mourning period ended, his Emperor uncle ordered him to marry first.

Yan Peifeng coldly watched a crowd of chattering women and casually chose the quietest one, Shen Yunying. All he needed was a quiet, sensible wife who would not make a fuss in his rear residence.

Shen Yunying was perfectly suited to the role, though she did seem a little too enamored with him. Yan Peifeng did not mind.

Until one day, he saw his usually obedient, well-behaved wife showing the same concern for a handsome, refined man. Her smile was radiant, her eyes full of affection. Yan Peifeng secretly snapped the wolf-hair brush in his hand.

# Aloof beauty wins herself over

# Gentle gentleman fights to claim her

Note:

Marriage first, love later; lighthearted household rivalries and sweet everyday moments.

[Next book: After Three Years as a Substitute Bride]

The Zhou and Lin families arranged a marriage alliance. The Lin family's eldest daughter entered the Zhou household in a grand wedding procession, her lavish dowry stretching for ten miles. The magnificent wedding left everyone envious.

Lin Jiayue sat in the bridal sedan wearing a wedding dress that did not fit. She exchanged vows and became Madam Zhou in place of her twin sister, Lin Zhijia.

The Lin family had an ancestral rule: whenever twins were born, one had to be cast out to ensure the family's wealth and prosperity endured. Lin Jiayue was the one abandoned by her parents and relatives.

As soon as she was born, her parents left her on a mountain. Luckily, her adoptive parents found her and raised her safely.

Only when the marriage between the Zhou and Lin families was approaching did Lin Jiayue's birth parents come looking for her. Lin Zhijia had eloped with her lover and disappeared without a trace. They used the life of Lin Jiayue's adoptive mother to force her to take her sister's place.

One was a refined young lady raised in an aristocratic household, the other a common girl who had grown up in the countryside.

The two looked alike, and their mannerisms could be imitated, but their voices could not. When Lin Jiayue was young, a high fever damaged her throat.

Her low, slightly hoarse voice was unmistakably different from the sweet, gentle, lilting voice of her sister.

On their wedding night, Zhou Yanxing did not even lift her veil. His warning fell like frost. “From now on, you need not speak. Remember, you are mute.”

“When your sister comes back, each of you will take her proper place.”

Lin Jiayue clenched her fists until crescent-shaped marks dug into her palms. Thinking of her gravely ill adoptive mother, she gritted her teeth and nodded firmly.

For three years, Lin Jiayue was a mute wife, and every day she thought about leaving.

One day, Lin Jiayue received a letter claiming to hold proof that she had usurped her sister's place. The sender used it to threaten her into stealing a confidential letter from Zhou Yanxing's study.

Looking at the letter, Lin Jiayue smiled.

It was just like having a pillow delivered the moment you felt sleepy.

The Zhou family had been an established clan for a hundred years, with deep roots. It was the foremost of the capital's three great families. Zhou Yanxing, the Zhou family's eldest legitimate son, was elegant and otherworldly, dignified and profound. He made a name for himself at court before turning twenty, and in just three years had risen to the highest ranks of the court.

The two families had arranged a marriage long ago, but Lin Zhijia fled on the eve of the wedding. The Lin family proposed that her younger sister take her place. The Zhou elders all opposed the idea, but Zhou Yanxing alone tacitly agreed.

During the three years after the wedding, Zhou Yanxing was busy with government affairs and rarely returned to the rear residence. He and Lin Jiayue treated each other with polite respect.

He thought that giving Lin Jiayue the dignity and honor of a wife was enough.

Who could have known that it would earn him his wife's betrayal and a faintly dismissive remark: “Let's get divorced sooner rather than later.”

Note:

Marriage first, love later; an aloof beauty takes her by force, then pursues his wife to the crematorium. Happy ending.

Theme: Cherish the present, live each day well, and don't let your youth go to waste.