Zhiyi, the Concubine’s Daughter

Xia Zhiyi is the overlooked daughter born to a concubine in the Xia family, despised by her stepmother. Despite her stepmother's mistreatment and her elder half-sister's taunts and oppression, she remains clear-headed and composed, carefully navigating every move within the inner household.

Her only wish is to marry into an ordinary family and live a quiet, uneventful life. But her stepmother is determined to use her as a pawn to pave the way for her own children.

The newly ennobled Prince Zhou Shenshu cornered her. “How about marrying me?”

Xia Zhiyi: “No thanks. Your household is too complicated. I don't want to be a sacrificial pawn.”

Zhou Shenshu threw himself into her arms in front of everyone and shamelessly married her into his family.

Thanks to her keen eye and perceptiveness, Xia Zhiyi established herself in Prince Duan's household. But then Zhou Shenshu requested a posting away from the capital.

Zhou Shenshu: “I promised you a peaceful, uneventful life.”

Xia Zhiyi: “A three-year posting? Fine, I suppose three years counts.”

Three years later, Zhou Shenshu said, “We've seen the misty rains of Jiangnan. For our next posting, let's head to the vast northern frontier.”