Chapter 1
When I became engaged to the duke’s worthless heir, my three older cousins were more anxious than I was.
The trouble was that Jiang Chengxu had a handsome face and nothing behind it.
His learning was pitiful, and his conduct was worse.
Before we were even engaged, he’d had a secret affair with an orphan staying in his family’s house and gotten her pregnant.
To cover the disgrace, the duke’s household needed an easily managed bride.
Girls from great families wanted nothing to do with the fool.
Girls from lesser families weren’t good enough for his.
So they thought of me.
My eldest uncle was a distinguished general. The Nings were no minor family.
My three cousins, all close to me, had married into great houses. Every one of their husbands was wealthy or powerful.
And everyone in the capital knew that I looked sweet and had the meekest disposition.
I never made trouble. I was easy to control.
They could shape me any way they pleased.
And so Jiang Chengxu joined forces with my stepmother.
While I was burning incense at a temple, praying for my late mother’s peaceful passage into the next life, one of them found an excuse to lure away my nurse and maid.
The other shamelessly burst into my meditation room and seized me in his arms.
Before I could bring my incense burner down on Jiang Chengxu’s head, my stepmother appeared with the servants and caught us on the spot.
As accusations of a secret affair came crashing down on me, Jiang Chengxu declared himself an honorable gentleman. He would never leave the woman he loved to face the world’s condemnation alone.
Now that our secret was out, he said, there was no reason to hide.
He would marry me with all three marriage documents and all six betrothal gifts, in a full, lawful wedding. He would take responsibility for me to the end.
He had set the whole thing up.
Yet the gossip left me nailed to the pillory of disgrace.
Worse, my stepmother couldn’t wait to push me into the fire.
She wept before Father until her eyes were red.
“You didn’t see them when I burst in! Their clothes were in disarray. They were practically stuck together…”
“Ning Jing hasn’t even come of age, and Youyi will soon be discussing marriage. Why should Ning Jizhao ruin her own name and destroy both my children’s futures? If this gets out, I might as well die!”
Father had always put his son first. He agreed to the duke’s proposal without a second thought.
“Marrying into a house like that is more good fortune than she could earn in eight lifetimes.”
“Let her marry. With their influence, she can secure a good future for her brother and sister.”
And just like that, my marriage was settled.
My three cousins were frowning hard enough to crush flies between their brows.
“Have you really thought this through?”
They didn’t want me walking into a trap.
I understood.
“Yes,” I said, nodding. “I have.”
After all, how often did a person get this lucky?
Jiang Chengxu had gone to such lengths to place his family’s wealth and honors before me. Refusing them would be downright ungrateful.
My cousins still looked worried.
After a long moment, one of them warned me softly, “Jiang Chengxu’s elder sister is one of His Majesty’s favorite consorts. He adores her. You must be careful.”
Win over my sister-in-law and mother-in-law?
Understood.
I answered obediently, “I know what to do.”
But my eldest cousin’s gaze abruptly darkened.
“Jizhao,” she said firmly, “when you make your move, leave nothing to chance. The duke’s household isn’t your father’s back courtyard. If you fail to kill them the first time, you won’t get a second.”
Oh?
My innocent round eyes widened.
They weren’t worried about me.
They were worried about the heads of our entire clan.
My second cousin gave me an indulgent look, as though she had seen through everything.
“As if you’d ever let anyone take advantage of you. You’re just saving up for something big.”
My third cousin hid a smile behind her handkerchief.
“A sesame dumpling. Soft on the outside, black through and through. They think you’re easy prey. Jiang Chengxu has no idea what he’s brought upon himself.”