Chapter 1

I made it back to the temple before the fair ended.

As soon as I reached the covered walkway, I saw my mother-in-law’s displeased face.

I had used an upset stomach as an excuse to slip out of the temple and seek the sorceress. I was a little late returning and had kept them waiting.

My sister-in-law stood beside her mother, every word a barb. “Couldn’t you have finished shitting before we left home? You’ve fouled even this sacred place.”

I dared not answer. Sheepishly, I returned to my mother-in-law’s side and stood with my head bowed.

She covered her nose. “Let’s go. You reek of the privy. Stop embarrassing us in public.”

I murmured my assent.

Even before my marriage, I had been known for my meekness. My sisters were always exasperated by my lack of backbone.

But what could I do?

My birth mother was of lowly origins and yielded in everything. Growing up with her example, I had become weak and easy to bully.

She comforted me by saying that a meek girl would find a husband easily.

It wasn’t true.

My eldest sister was beautiful and knew her own mind. Father considered her the ideal daughter to marry into a more powerful family, a rare commodity worth holding for the right price.

My second sister was a little less beautiful, but her literary gifts were widely admired. Despite her difficult disposition, plenty of sons from distinguished families were willing to overlook it for her talents.

As for me, I was a lump of dough anyone could knead into any shape. Father’s wife often said that a disposition like mine would attract no decent family.

She was right.

The Xus had proposed the marriage precisely because I would be easy to control.

It wasn’t that Xu Zhen had done anything so scandalous as taking a concubine before marrying. His family were simply difficult people.

His mother was a snob, his sister a spoiled bully, and his younger brother a scoundrel.

For the sake of peace at home, they certainly couldn’t bring in a strong-willed wife.

Father, however, thought the proposal had come at just the right time.

My eldest sister had married above us, my second sister into a family of equal standing. If I married beneath us, it would prove that he sought neither wealth nor influence through his daughters’ marriages.

Besides, Xu Zhen had passed the highest imperial examinations on his own merits. He seemed to have something of a future.

Father’s wife seldom interfered, but for once she urged caution. There weren’t many daughters in the family, she said; he ought to choose carefully.

Father replied that once his own daughters were married, there were still his nieces from the clan.

They were a degree further removed, but once two families were joined by marriage, they remained in-laws even if the daughter died.

It made no difference.

While preparations were underway, Father’s wife came specifically to lecture me.

“A married daughter is like water poured away. It has been so for thousands of years. Once you marry, you must obey your husband and manage his household virtuously. Don’t put on the airs of a pampered young lady, and don’t expect your father to meddle in the Xu household to defend you.”

Here she sighed.

“But if you disgrace either the Sus or the Xus, neither your father nor your husband will spare you.

“You may lose your life, but Xu Zhen will still be your father’s worthy son-in-law.

“You must weigh all that carefully and understand exactly what is at stake.”

I nodded, and grew more cautious still.