chapter 1

The naval campaign in the southeast had ended in victory.

The war had lasted three full years. When the news reached the capital, His Majesty was overjoyed.

Though a civil official, Shen Yan had distinguished himself time and again. The army had not yet returned, and it was no festival, yet the palace sent our household several dishes said to be the Emperor’s own favorites.

The message could not have been clearer.

The Shen family received the imperial reward in raptures. During the meal, my mother-in-law mentioned her intimate friend Madam Wang. Madam Wang’s daughter-in-law had found pregnancy inconvenient the previous year and had voluntarily taken two concubines for her husband. She had since delivered twin sons, while one of the concubines was now pregnant. What a harmonious household they made.

My mother-in-law’s meaning was obvious: Shen Yan and I had been married for five years, and I had given him no child.

Yet Shen Yan had been away for three years. Even if I wished to conceive, how was I meant to manage it alone?

Before I could answer, my sister-in-law Shen Lin announced that Princess Pingyang had invited her to view the flowers.

Princess Pingyang was proud and spoiled, and rarely considered anyone worth a proper glance.

Shen Yan was exceptionally handsome. She had still been a child when he placed first in the imperial examination, but one distant glimpse had been enough for affection to take root.

Now that Shen Yan was coming home, those old hopes had most likely stirred again.

The princess’s noble birth could greatly advance his career. I could never compare with her. Yet if she entered the Shen household, would she truly lower herself to become a concubine?

That would become my difficulty.

My mother-in-law certainly would not spare a thought for me.

The instant she heard about the invitation, her eyes disappeared in a delighted smile. She ordered a maid to commission two new sets of jewelry for Shen Lin, lest anyone look down on the Shen family. Then she had someone bring over a pot of purple chrysanthemums she had tended herself, intending to present it to the princess.

I was Shen Yan’s lawful wife. Had he cared for me even a little—had he sent home a few more letters—his mother would never have dared treat me this way.

But he had not.

Such had been my five years in the Shen household.

Disliked by my mother-in-law, met with indifference by my husband, and childless.

The only person I could rely upon

was myself.

Shen Yan had risen high now. He was one of the Emperor’s favored officials.

Wherever I went, people respectfully addressed me as Madam Shen.

Shen Yan took no concubines and visited no courtesans. He devoted himself entirely to state affairs and had reached the third rank while still young. Every unmarried woman in the capital envied me for making such an excellent match.

After all, a prodigy like him ought to have married an imperial princess, if not the daughter of some great aristocratic clan.

Certainly not the daughter of a mere county magistrate like me.

Very few people knew that when I married Shen Yan, I had in fact married beneath myself.

Our grandparents had arranged our betrothal while they were still alive.

But by the time Shen Yan arrived at our door with the betrothal contract, the Shen family had already fallen into poverty.

My father disapproved. My mother, however, saw the advantage. A husband of humbler birth was no bad thing, she said. Better to have a strong natal family behind me and become the undisputed mistress of my new household than live as a decorative leaf at the edge of some mighty clan.

Once my mother had spoken, my father relented.

Yet if I was to marry down, the Wen family naturally had conditions.

The first was that Shen Yan could never take a concubine.

Back then, my mother-in-law treated me exactly as she now treated Princess Pingyang.

She offered no protest at all and agreed with indecent haste.

My family paid Shen Yan’s expenses when he traveled to the capital for the imperial examination. My father also wrote personally to several former classmates there, asking them to look after him.

My parents considered every detail for my sake. There was only one thing they failed to reckon with: Shen Yan was far too capable.

He needed only ten years to rise from obscurity to a position of power over the entire court.

In his eyes, everything my parents had done became a humiliation. He honored his promise never to take a concubine, but he remained cold toward me all his life.

I was like an extra object in his room. Even a sparrow passing outside his window interested him more than I did.