(Complete manuscript ready) [Steadfast, honest village girl x cruel, obsessive heir]
[Win-her-back-after-losing-her / Forced marriage / Fleeing while pregnant]
Sang Lian sells flowers and has been secretly in love with the heir of the Duke of State's household for years. Knowing they are worlds apart, she never dares hope he will return her feelings.
Until, at a moment when his life hangs in the balance, she risks her own to save him. She trades one of her eyes for this marriage, and by a twist of fate marries into a powerful family.
After the wedding, she is cautious, obedient, and does her best to get along with her mother-in-law and sister-in-law. But Pei Jinyao remains indifferent, never paying her any attention.
Sang Lian refuses to give up. She thinks that even if he is a stone, if she holds him close and warms him day after day, she can eventually coax out even the smallest bit of genuine affection.
He is away on official business for two months. At last, today, he comes home.
Sang Lian rushes unsteadily toward the gates, only to hear the maids giggling: "The heir brought home a beautiful young lady today. They say she's even the empress's own niece!"
The woman is welcomed into the household with silken quilts, embroidered couches, and delicacies fit for a king. Before long, she is to marry into the Pei family as a co-wife. Everyone says this is the match heaven intended.
*
Sang Lian thinks she can swallow even this bitterness.
Her beloved aunt falls gravely ill, and Sang Lian returns to her hometown to visit. Her aunt takes her hand and asks if she is happy. Sang Lian answers gently, "He treats me very well."
Then the doctor confirms her pregnancy. She hesitates before telling him the good news, but one afternoon, she overhears a conversation between her mother-in-law and her husband.
"How can a blind woman raise the Duke's heir?"
He doesn't argue. She hears him say faintly, "Once she gives birth, I'll divorce her..."
Sang Lian grips a pillar in the corridor, her fingertips digging deep into her palm.
So all these years, it wasn't her eyes that were blind, but her heart!
A few days later, a great fire breaks out at the Duke's estate.
When Pei Jinyao returns from the campaign, all that remains is a ruined courtyard and a charred corpse. He can no longer find the blind girl who used to call him "husband."
*
Three years later, a new clinic opens outside the capital.
Everyone says the doctor's wife has a pair of exceptionally beautiful eyes.
One day, Pei Jinyao steps into the clinic to pick up medicine. As he leaves, he hears a child's voice behind him, calling for his mother. He turns at the sound and sees a woman in plain clothes emerging from the back courtyard.
The moment he recognizes her, the medicine packet slips from his hand and hits the ground with a thud. He calls out to her without thinking.
The woman picks up the child and rises. Her smile is faint as she says, "I think you must have mistaken me for someone else, Your Lordship."
From then on, whenever he enters the clinic, he sees the two of them deeply in love, perfectly in tune. The child tugs at the woman, asking for candy, then rushes over joyfully to call his father when his uncle returns.
At last, one day, Pei Jinyao finds his chance and corners her in the dispensary.
His expression dark, still consumed by three years of stubborn longing, Pei Jinyao suddenly smiles. "My sister-in-law once carried my child, and you still say I've mistaken you for someone else?"
(P.S. The male lead is devoted to her in both body and heart. He's a real jerk early on, so proceed with caution!)
Reader's Guide:
1. Originally titled A Thousand Bushels of Pearls. The heroine is temporarily blinded after saving someone early in the story. Her sight returns after she escapes, and the male lead has his own tricks up his sleeve as he tries to win her back.
2. Both leads are virgins, and the male lead remains devoted to her from beginning to end. Expect outrageous melodrama, so proceed with caution. Later, misunderstandings are cleared up and the story takes a warmer turn.
3. Set in an imaginary dynasty. Please don't nitpick the historical details.
Theme: Love helps people grow together.
