Everyone in the capital said that Shen Yishu was the daughter of a merchant, lowborn and beneath notice.
They said marrying Gu Jingmo of a respectable scholarly family was a blessing she had earned over several lifetimes.
Who could have guessed that on their wedding day, Gu Jingmo would fall off a cliff and die?
She bore the blame and abuse, endured the ridicule of the entire capital, and married into the Gu family as a widow.
She dutifully cared for her in-laws and raised her sister-in-law, using her dowry to support the whole Gu household.
Then, two years later, Gu Jingmo, supposedly dead, came back,
bringing a woman with him whom he intended to take as a second wife.
Heartbroken, Shen Yishu asked for a divorce.
Gu Jingmo said, “You’re confined to the inner quarters, full of schemes. Kui’er, on the other hand, is as calm and pure as a chrysanthemum. She never competes or fights. She doesn’t care about all those things you fuss over. She only wants to stay by my side. Why can’t you make room for her?”
Shen Yishu replied, “Full of schemes? Fine. I’ll show you what real scheming looks like!”
The Gu family prided themselves on being respectable scholars and cared about their reputation and dignity?
Then she would tear off their hypocritical masks and expose the filth hidden beneath their respectable facade!
The Gu family looked down on her for being a merchant’s daughter with both parents dead and no one to rely on, then tried to poison her?
Then she would turn the tables, seize their evidence, and send them straight to prison!
She risked everything to break with them and finally got her divorce papers!
Later,
when snowstorms ravaged the northern border, she donated money and supplies;
when floods struck Cangzhou, she gave generously to help those in need;
when an epidemic broke out, she became a gifted physician who saved countless lives;
when a foreign enemy invaded, she became a female Zhuge, a skilled martial artist and brilliant strategist.
Only then did Gu Jingmo realize how badly he had misjudged her.
She was not a petty, calculating woman of the inner quarters,
but a moon among the clouds and snow on the heavenly mountains, with a noble heart, compassion for all, and a desire to help the whole world.
But by then, another man was already at her side, a man who could stand shoulder to shoulder with her.
