The Concubine of a Treacherous Minister

Zhao Wanzhen, the legitimate daughter of the Zhao family, begged the treacherous court official Xie Huai for mercy on behalf of her father and brother, who were defending the border from distant invaders but had been branded traitors by officials in the capital. What kind of man was Xie Huai? He had crawled out of a foul-smelling gutter and even taken a eunuch scoundrel as his adoptive father. The court was in decline, the emperor on the throne was a puppet, and Xie Huai held absolute power. Who was Zhao Wanzhen? The youngest daughter of the Marquis of Yongning's household, and its only daughter raised in the capital. Frail from birth, she was a sickly girl who lived on medicine, yet breathtakingly beautiful and the apple of the entire household's eye. In the whole of Shangjing, only Xie Huai could help the Marquis of Yongning's household navigate the political waters. Late at night in the Xie residence, Xie Huai looked at the young woman who had removed her veiled hat and curled his lips. "Isn't this Miss Xie, who once refused my marriage proposal, only to get engaged to Prince Jiang?" Xie Wanzhen blushed, but clutched her skirt and threw herself into his arms, gazing up at him. "My lord, please show me mercy." Xie Huai hooked an arm around her waist and lowered his head, smiling faintly. "Is Miss Xie offering herself to me? What about your fiance, Prince Jiang?" Zhao Wanzhen pressed her lips together, gathered her courage, and kissed him, her words tumbling out. "Lord Xie can get rid of him, can't you?" Xie Huai's gaze darkened. He accepted the beauty's favor, and whether it was resentment or revenge was hard to say. In any case, Zhao Wanzhen, the high-and-mighty pearl of Shangjing, had willingly come into his arms.