chapter 1

chapter 1

When Father came home and repeated Lord Fu’s words, Grandmother said nothing. Mother said nothing. My three legitimate elder sisters and two half sisters said nothing either.

Lord Fu was said to possess extraordinary wisdom and courage. His only son, however, had nothing to recommend him except an exceptionally handsome face. People called him ordinary when they wished to be kind. What they meant was that he was slow-witted.

Marriage was for life. Lord Fu had saved our whole family, so my sisters reasoned that the whole family ought to repay him. None of them was willing to sacrifice her own future by marrying a fool for the sake of that collective debt.

Watching them pass the burden back and forth made my heart ache.

Without Lord Fu, we would already have been on the road to Lingnan. The journey was long and perilous. We might all have died before we even arrived.

He had saved the family, yes, but he had also saved each one of us. Shouldn’t a life-saving debt be repaid without hesitation?

Then Grandmother looked at me, silent appeal in her eyes.

I stepped forward and put an end to my sisters’ evasions. “Enough. I’ll marry him,” I told Father.

My sisters immediately fell silent.

Grandmother praised my courage, though reluctance showed in her eyes. Mother shook her head and mouthed soundlessly, *Nannan, you cannot marry him.*

Mother loved me dearly. All my sisters had already reached marriageable age, but I was only fourteen.

I knelt and kowtowed first to Mother, then to Father. “Please tell Lord Fu that Gu Xinyan, the youngest legitimate daughter of the Vice Minister of Revenue, is willing to marry his son, Fu Zi’en.”

Tears shone in Father’s eyes as he nodded in approval. Mother turned away to wipe hers. My sisters, meanwhile, let out a collective breath of relief.

Lord Fu was delighted when he heard. Through Father, he sent me a full set of ruby jewelry worth a thousand taels.

I packed it away, intending to take it back to the Fu residence as part of my dowry. My future father-in-law might know how to earn money, but my future husband did not. If I wanted us to live well for years to come, I would have to manage every coin wisely.

The wedding was set for the following year, after my coming-of-age ceremony.

I had always loved games and mischief. Once the engagement was settled, I began pestering Grandmother to teach me how to manage a household and its accounts.

Mother was Father’s second wife. Gentle by nature, she had never taken charge of the household after marrying into the family. That authority remained in Grandmother’s hands.

When Grandmother saw that I genuinely wanted to learn, she taught me with care. My sisters tried to join us, but one glare from her sent them away. They had their own instructors, though none could compare with Grandmother.

I became her sole true pupil.

My sisters envied me, but there was nothing they could do. In the eyes of the whole household, I was the one being sacrificed. Special treatment was merely compensation.

After studying under Grandmother for a year, I discovered that the way I saw people—and the entire world—had changed.

Storybooks claimed that people existed on different levels. I had never believed it before. I had once thought my sisters and I were the same.

Now when I looked at them, all I saw was how small they were.