Martial Arts
Cherish Her Until Spring Comes
My stepmother was a hopeless romantic with an unusually clear head.
Over nine years, she invested in a hundred men.
Every last investment failed—my father included.
After placing third in the imperial examination, he was snatched up as a son-in-law right beneath the honors board.
When the news reached Gaoyou, my grandmother was beside herself with joy.
She promptly threw both my stepmother and me out of the house.
“It’s all right,” my stepmother said.
“I’ll find you another father.”
“Haven’t men cheated you badly enough?” I asked.
She took my hand and strode on.
“What is there to fear?”
“Whoever I love, I love with everything I have!”
And she meant it.
On the day she finally avenged her family, her passion kept the Duke of Zheng from leaving his bed for three days.
Zhiyu
By imperial decree, I was forced to marry into the Xiaoshan Earl’s Estate as the heir’s second wife.
I had heard that my future mother-in-law was cruel, my sisters-in-law were impossible, and my husband kept a pampered concubine so vicious and overbearing that she had driven his first wife to her death.
Every respectable family in the capital avoided the place like the plague.
Before I climbed into the bridal sedan, Mother clasped my hands with tears in her eyes.
“My daughter, you must be careful.”
“Don’t kill anyone in your husband’s family. Your father will have a hard time explaining it to His Majesty.”
