After Being Forced into a Substitute Marriage

Su Jiao transmigrates into the body of the second daughter of the Marquis of Jin's household. Her birth mother favors her elder sister, her father just tries to keep the peace, and now she has to take her sister's place and marry into a once-prosperous duke's household that has fallen on hard times.

Shen Jue is the duke's legitimate son. At eight, he was chosen by the empress to be the crown prince's study companion. By his early twenties, he had become commander of the Imperial Guard. He's also notorious for showing no mercy, and everyone knows his future prospects are limitless.

The Duke's household and the Marquis of Jin's household arranged the marriage long ago. But when the crown prince was deposed for treason, Shen Jue, as his study companion, was implicated too, and officials in the capital avoided him like the plague.

Su Jiao was pushed into marrying into the duke's household in her elder sister's place. In everyone's eyes, she was the marquis's cast-off daughter.

Su Jiao: ...I'll make the best of it. If I can't, I'll run away. What else can I do?

On their wedding night, her husband was distant and cold, all courtesy and no affection.

Su Jiao was quite satisfied with this marriage of appearances. They were only sharing a life together, after all.

The marquis's household had thrown its weight around. Everyone was waiting to see the duke's household reject Su Jiao, and they all knew Shen Jue would never accept her.

Who would have guessed that, once the crown prince was cleared of wrongdoing, the duke's household would become a highly coveted connection again? Yet Shen Jue, who usually left early and returned late, began staying home and even dared to turn down the crown prince's banquet invitation.

Everyone assumed the duke's household was keeping its head down to stay out of trouble. Then someone saw that Shen Jue had taken three days' leave just to have honey peaches brought from Yangzhou at breakneck speed, day and night, to cheer up his wife.

When they married, Shen Jue only wanted them to treat each other with respect. That was all.

But after holding back for so long, he could only ask himself, "What am I pretending for?"

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