The Dowry Maid

Li Manxi, the illegitimate daughter of Grand Tutor Li, was never welcomed by her legitimate mother. She endured hardship after hardship until she was seventeen, when she was sent in a small sedan chair to her brother-in-law, the prince's residence, to serve as a childbearing tool for her legitimate sister. By day, she was a dutiful dowry maid; by night, she lay in Xie Heng's bed. But the family she wanted to protect all met their deaths, and after she had served her purpose, she was strangled in a damp, freezing woodshed. Reborn, she resolved to flee with her family, but failed again and again, costing her mother her face and her younger brother a hand. Once she saw the truth clearly, she decided to take a dangerous gamble. If she became the most honored woman in the Huai Prince's residence, who could hold her back? Prince Huai, Xie Heng, was clever and patient. Marriage and children held far less appeal for him than winning a battle. But since someone had to take the position of Princess Consort of Huai, it made little difference whom he married. As long as she wasn't jealous or vicious, they could spend their lives together. But his wife seemed quite different at night than she was during the day. The old madam frowned and asked Li Manxi who the bastard in her belly belonged to, and whether she'd given herself to some servant. She kept her mouth shut. With no other choice, the old madam ordered her dragged away and drowned in a well. Xie Heng returned from the palace, travel-worn, shoved aside the servants restraining Li Manxi, and wrapped an arm around her slender shoulders. “Who dares lay a hand on my child?”