chapter 1

To keep Fu Qingchuan from exposing the bride substitution, Father and Mr. Bai agreed that Bai Yuetang would marry him in my place.

Bai Yuetang was Mr. Bai’s biological daughter.

She had been raised impeccably, accomplished in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting. As for her looks, she stood out even in a capital crowded with beauties.

Father believed she had the power to make any man forget his former love.

Mr. Bai nodded in agreement.

“Life at the frontier is harsh. Yuanxi was raised rather wild.”

Father sighed. “Yuetang is so gifted that, had she not been chosen for the marriage alliance, she could easily have become an imperial consort. What a pity that she must now marry a mere presented scholar.”

Mr. Bai smiled. “Qingchuan was my student. I know better than anyone how limitless his future is. It is hardly beneath Yuetang to marry him.”

Mother twisted her handkerchief, wanting to speak but holding herself back.

Only after nightfall did she light a tiny oil lamp as an offering for my soul.

Mr. Bai had been Fu Qingchuan’s teacher. When he said that an engaged couple must not meet before the wedding ceremony, Fu Qingchuan believed him.

He left the betrothal gifts and returned to the residence he had bought in the capital while sitting the metropolitan examination.

He was prosperous now, wealthy enough to own property in the capital, but as a child he had been nothing more than a beggar. If I had not picked him up, he might have frozen to death in some bitter winter.

Back home, he drew a jade Guanyin pendant from beneath his collar and stroked it with a smile in his eyes.

I had bought it for him with the first money we ever earned together.

“Idiot,” I murmured, though he could not hear me.

Little Yun came in with the account books and began going over the cost of the wedding banquet.

“Young Master, everything in the capital is expensive. This banquet may swallow two full years of our profits!”

“Then it ought to be expensive,” Fu Qingchuan said. “How else could it be worthy of her?”

Little Yun made an exaggerated gagging face.

“How sickeningly sweet.”

Fu Qingchuan raised a brow and grinned with smug delight.

“You would love the chance to say such sweet things to someone. Pity your beloved wants nothing to do with you.”

Little Yun was still young, but he already had someone he liked.

Unfortunately, that person did not like him back.

Stung by the teasing, he pouted. “Then Miss Yuanxi should ignore you forever too!”

When Fu Qingchuan lifted Bai Yuetang’s bridal veil, those were the words that came back to him.

She really should ignore me forever.

Bai Yuetang’s cheeks were flushed, her eyes limpid and bright. She was as beautiful as an immortal descended from heaven.

Fu Qingchuan seemed dazzled by her beauty. He stared for a long moment before asking, “Who are you?”

Softly, Bai Yuetang replied, “I am your teacher Mr. Bai’s own daughter.”

Everyone believed the bond between teacher and student outweighed romantic love.

Bai Yuetang had read the Four Books and Five Classics and agreed wholeheartedly. She saw nothing wrong with using her status as his revered teacher’s daughter to pressure him, so her voice remained composed.

Fu Qingchuan asked again, “Where is Li Yuanxi?”

Bai Yuetang repeated, word for word, what Mr. Bai had taught her to say.

“After returning to the capital, she met a man at the lantern festival. One glimpse was enough to bewitch her. She cast everything else aside and followed him south of the Yangtze. A letter arrived a few days ago saying only that she had become his wife.

“Father feared you would be heartbroken, so he decided I should marry you instead. Yuanxi and I are both his daughters in one sense or another. The marriage agreement has not truly been broken.”

Fu Qingchuan could no longer remain seated on the bridal bed. He rose in a daze, staggered to the door, and pushed it open.

The courtyard blazed with festive lanterns. The guests were still drinking and laughing.

Yet to him, every cup of wedding wine he had swallowed seemed to have curdled into bitterness.

Sensing something was wrong, Little Yun hurried forward to support him.

“Young Master, what is it?”

Fu Qingchuan’s face darkened. He said nothing.