The Frail Cousin Miss Becomes the Talk of the Capital

[Household Intrigue] [Marriage Before Love] [Sweet Romance]

Synopsis: Pei Zhiwei, the maternal cousin who lives in the Minister of Rites' residence, was born with stunning beauty.

Her waist was so slender one could encircle it with both hands, and when she walked, she swayed like a willow in the breeze. She looked every bit like a sickly girl raised on medicine.

She was beautiful and delicate, and her background was pitiful too. Her parents had died early, leaving her alone to travel a thousand miles from the frontier to seek refuge with her maternal relatives.

But life under someone else's roof was hard. The Minister of Rites' residence was wealthy, yet her cousin disliked her, her female cousin detested her, and her aunt wished she were dead.

The most frightening of them all, though, was her cousin, a powerful and influential man. Just seeing him made Pei Zhiwei's legs go weak, let alone getting along with him.

At banquets, her beauty brought her no end of trouble. One eligible young man after another in the capital insisted on marrying her, and suitors arrived at her door without pause.

Her cousin, whom she had once found so annoying, did everything he could to stop them.

After finding a good man, she thought she could finally escape this cage. But an imperial decree of marriage bound her tightly to her cousin.

Pei Zhiwei begged and pleaded with him to refuse the marriage. She was truly afraid.

The man gently comforted her. "We cannot defy the imperial decree. Besides, I've always liked you, Cousin. Don't be afraid of me."

No one knew that Fu Xingjian had won this marriage with his outstanding military achievements. That day, he had knelt in the palace hall for a long time, all so he could keep his cousin by his side.

Watching her go through one fiance after another had nearly driven him mad with jealousy.