A Springtime Marriage in Her Place

Jiu Niang’s first time was sold to Shen Yuan.

She was brought into the Shen residence as a trial bride and, after a night of humiliation, received thirteen taels of silver in exchange.

Shen Yuan had someone he loved. He didn’t want this marriage, and he didn’t like her either. He slept with her, yet despised her as a loose woman and wouldn’t even let her into his bed.

But it didn’t matter. She had someone she loved, too.

If he wanted her to serve him, she served him. If he wanted her to bear his children, she became pregnant with his child despite having no name or status.

After all, what right did a concubine like her have to refuse?

When night fell, he would pull her into his arms and press her down on the couch. Now and then, an almost imperceptible tenderness would slip through.

But come sunrise, it would vanish without a trace.

Once they stepped out of the bedroom, they might as well have been strangers.

But sometime later, she began to catch Shen Yuan glancing at her when he thought she wouldn’t notice. She assumed it was her imagination, until one stormy night, when the candles went out and the lingering passion had just faded. The man knelt before her, cupped her face, and gently coaxed her:

“I don’t care about your past with him anymore. I’ll give you my heart. Won’t you give me yours, too?”

[Late at night, with the bed curtains drawn, the man held the young woman in a tight grip, grinding his teeth with jealousy. “If you want to see him so badly, I’ll arrange for you to meet when your belly starts to show.”]

Angst [expression] the husband’s desperate pursuit [expression] possessive love [expression] imprisonment [expression] household intrigue

A naturally alluring maid brought as part of a bride’s dowry [expression] a gentleman before others, a deranged and sinister powerbroker in private

The heroine suffers first, then the hero / devoted love later on / heroine’s personal growth