Qingzhi was picked up by Wei Lin, who gave her a name and raised her for ten years. Qingzhi loved him so much that she obeyed him and married his sickly eldest brother to bring him good luck.
Wei Yang, the eldest son of the Wei family, had been recognized as a member of the family halfway through his life. He was refined and kind to others, but unfortunately, he was blind and suffered from a chronic cough, relying on bowl after bowl of medicinal broth to stay alive.
Wei Lin looked down on Wei Yang but feared his status as the eldest son. So he ordered Qingzhi to marry him and find an opportunity to kill him.
On the eve of her wedding, Qingzhi carefully took out a pouch embroidered with intertwined branches. Pressing her lips together, she said to the tall man before her, “Young Master, this is my first attempt at embroidery. It didn’t turn out very well...”
He took it in his hand without even looking at it and said, “Once it’s done, I’ll give you the status of a concubine.”
She loved him. Becoming his concubine would be fine.
After leaving him, Qingzhi realized she had lost her handkerchief. She retraced her steps to look for it and happened to glance into the pond. Floating on the water was a pouch, the very one she had just given him.
She suddenly understood: in his eyes, her sincere feelings were worth nothing.
*
Wei Lin was suspicious by nature and trusted no one, including Qingzhi. Sending her to Wei Yang was merely the most obvious part of his many schemes.
Whether or not she succeeded, he was determined to eliminate Wei Yang.
Yet whenever the spies he had planted in Wei Yang’s courtyard reported that she was taking meticulous care of him, or he happened to run into her and saw how distant she had become, it made him deeply unhappy.
One day, Qingzhi accompanied Old Madam Wei to the temple to offer incense. Wei Lin blocked the only road out of the estate, dragged her aside, and demanded coldly, “Have you forgotten who you belong to?”
Qingzhi wrenched herself free and looked straight into his angry eyes. She smiled faintly. “Grandmother is waiting for me. You’d better take care of yourself, Second Young Master.”
She left without hesitation, showing no attachment to him at all.
The lofty Second Young Master Wei tasted, for the first time, the bitter ache of being ignored.
Theme: Cherish yourself
My Late Husband's Brother Has His Eye on Me
A Longing for Spring Mountains
She Is Already Another Man's Wife
The Princess and the Slave
His Runaway Maid
The Regretful Young Master
My Husband Once Threatened to Divorce Me
She Made Him Bow
Madam Has Nowhere to Run
The Great General Had His Eye on Me All Along
After I Was Ordered to Marry the Stern General