Chapter 1

After my identity as a fake heiress was exposed, everything was cut back: my food, the fabric of my clothes, even the charcoal for heating. There was little left that I could keep. In the end, all I had was the betrothal contract with the Xie family.

But their heir, the young lord, was hot and cold by turns. I had merely said one wrong thing, and he sent someone to deliver a letter breaking off our engagement. I was anxious all day and unable to sleep at night. Eventually, I fell ill. When I opened my eyes again, the first person I saw was the First Madam, standing by my bed.

“My maternal uncle is serving in the army. There’s a young man under his command who has recently become a Centurion.”

“His family background is humble, but he’s brave in battle and has distinguished himself on the field many times. He’s an exceptionally promising young man.”

She set the letter of repudiation beside my bed, her expression full of reluctance.

“The Xie family is indeed powerful and prestigious, but your status now is beyond your reach. Keeping this engagement will only leave you living in fear day after day.”

“No amount of wealth is worth more than staying alive.”

“We were mother and daughter for a time, after all. I sincerely want to find you a match with whom you can live out your days in peace.”

I clutched my aching chest and answered through tears:

“I understand your intentions, Madam.”

“I’m willing to marry him.”

1.

My wedding was arranged in great haste. From the moment I agreed to the engagement until the day I climbed into the bridal sedan, only half a month had passed. The wedding was not made into a grand affair. When all was said and done, my dowry consisted of only two chests.

My maid, who had served me since childhood, looked mournful the whole way. At last, she couldn’t hold back her complaints.

“Miss, why wouldn’t you wait a few more days? The Xie family has sent a letter breaking off the engagement before, but a few days later they always send someone to take it back.”

“You could have become the mistress of the Xie residence. Why rush to marry yourself off now?”

“Your groom is only a Centurion, a nobody with no connections.”

“How could his status compare to Young Lord Xie, a member of the imperial clan?”

Of course, she didn’t understand what I had in mind.

In the eyes of outsiders, Xie Heng’s feelings for me could be called deep and devoted. Even after word spread that I was a false heiress, he never formally canceled our engagement. It had gone back and forth many times, and he often ignored me, but on paper, I still had a chance to enter the Xie family.

The weakness left behind by my severe illness a few days earlier had not yet faded. My chest ached again. I rested for a long while before gathering enough strength to speak.

“Young Lord Xie was born to a noble family. That betrothal contract was nothing more than a childish promise made years ago.”

“His family background is not something I could ever aspire to.”

2.

Before climbing into the bridal sedan, I had tucked a slice of old ginseng beneath my tongue. Its medicinal strength was the only thing that allowed me to endure the elaborate wedding rites.

My health had not always been this poor. Later, it was discovered that the wet nurse had switched two babies. She was beaten to death, while I—the false heiress who had taken another girl’s place—fell from the clouds straight to the earth.

The true heiress, who had been lost outside the family, died young from heart disease not long after she was found. Though my father had raised me for many years, whenever he looked at me, what he remembered most was the regret of losing his biological daughter so soon. He hated the wet nurse for her evil deed, but he could not help resenting me as well.

I was driven into the woodshed. I dressed no better than the servants who did the heaviest labor in the residence. My medicine and heating stove were taken away. Combined with the blow to my spirit, my health grew weaker by the day.

Things only changed when Xie Heng came to the door with the betrothal contract arranged in our childhood. Because of that contract, I was once again given warm meals, thick clothes, and nourishing medicine.

But Xie Heng’s temperament was truly impossible to predict. I was stubborn and poor at speaking, and I often angered him without meaning to. At first he would only reprimand me coldly. Later, he found a more effective way to keep me in line.

Whenever a letter breaking off the engagement arrived at the Jiang residence, my medicine and food would be cut off, and I would be sent back to that cold, gloomy woodshed.

I had suffered enough. I was terrified of going through those days again.

So I tried desperately to please Xie Heng and do as he wished. The trouble was that I was slow to catch on. I could never guess what he cared about. Six times out of ten, I did the opposite of what he wanted. Instead of pleasing him, I only made him angrier.

Living in fear like that every day, I fell ill again.

When I opened my eyes, Xie Heng’s letter of repudiation had indeed arrived. Along with it came a message from his attendant.

“Think carefully about what you did at the poetry banquet. Once you’ve figured it out, come ask me why I’m breaking off the engagement.”

“When you understand, come apologize.”

No matter how hard I thought, I couldn’t understand what I had done wrong. Ever since my identity was exposed, the little pride and confidence I once had were gone. At the banquet, I had only dared to echo what others said and offer a few quiet words of praise. I had been so careful, and still I had managed to displease Xie Heng?

The steward brought people over and, as usual, was about to drag me to the woodshed. The First Madam hurried into the courtyard and stopped them.

“My biological daughter was ill with heart disease from the moment she was born. Even if she had not been switched that year, there’s no guarantee she would have grown up safely.”

“But I still cannot help blaming you. She died so young, and I never even got to hold her once.”

The First Madam panted, then paused for a long time before looking at me again.

“My maternal uncle’s army has a Centurion who was recently promoted.”

“He has no noble family background, but he is young, skilled in battle, and has earned many merits. He’s an outstanding young man in the army.”

She looked at my bloodless face, her eyes gradually reddening.

“We were mother and daughter for so many years. I cannot help resenting you, but I cannot treat you as my enemy, either.”

“I have already lost one daughter forever. I truly cannot bear to watch the other lose her life, too.”

“No matter how prestigious the Xie family is, your current status does not suit them. If you really marry into that house, you’ll live in fear day and night. Sooner or later, your health will collapse.”

“While Young Lord Xie is away in Huaibei putting down a rebellion, I’ll find you another match.”

“If you cannot even stay alive, what use is all that wealth and status?”

“Do you understand?”

I pushed myself up despite my illness and bowed deeply to her.

When I lifted my head again, my eyes were already full of tears. I nodded and answered in a hoarse voice.

“Madam, I understand your intentions.”

“I’m willing to marry the Centurion.”

The Jiang family had raised me, and the First Madam had once protected me. After all those years, their kindness to me ran deep. By now, I truly had no right to resent anything.

3.

The red veil over my head made it a little hard to breathe. I secretly lifted one corner to look around the bridal chamber.

Red silk was wrapped around the old beams, and a pair of wedding candles burned beside the table. The wood was long worn and the style outdated. Everything in the room was ordinary; it even looked a little shabby.

If I had still been the eldest young lady of the Jiang family, I wouldn’t have spared it a second glance.

I recalled the First Madam’s introduction. In the army, a Centurion was not a high-ranking position. Land in the capital was worth its weight in gold. He must have spent years of saved pay to buy this little house.

His name passed over my tongue and settled quietly in my mind: Qi Ye.

Before long, steady, somewhat heavy footsteps sounded outside the door. I hurriedly lowered the veil and tried to calm my breathing.

The footsteps drew closer, then finally stopped in front of me. Over the frantic thudding of my own heart, I heard the veil being lifted and raised my face.

A pair of dark, tranquil eyes came into view.

The man before me was very tall, with broad shoulders. Even a slight bend at the waist let him block most of the candlelight. His build was sturdy and powerful, but there was still a youthful softness between his brows.

Before coming here, I had imagined him as a weathered, experienced man. Now that I saw him in person, I realized he was no more than seventeen or eighteen.

My lashes trembled. I called to him softly.

“My husband.”

4.

The candlelight flickered. After he kissed me clumsily for a while, I couldn’t help murmuring a reminder.

“Dear, you just touched the flesh of my lip. It hurts a little there.”

The hand at my waist stiffened at once. He seemed not to know where to put it.

Even when Qi Ye spoke, his voice was awkward.

“I—I’m sorry. I hurt you.”

He carefully lifted me onto the bed, a faint blush spreading over his face.

“I entered the army when I was fourteen. I’ve spent every day among those soldiers. I only turned seventeen last month.”

“The people around me have always been rough men. I’ve never met a young lady like you.”

I found that rather novel and asked, “Then tell me—what kind of person am I, in your eyes?”

The color on Qi Ye’s face deepened.

“Your skin is so fair, like… like a pearl just pulled from the water.”

Before I left for the wedding, I had asked my maid to find out about Qi Ye’s background. He was a soldier who had risen from the lowest ranks, with no connections and no one backing him. In the army, where the children of noble families could rely on their status to claim military credit and connections were tangled everywhere, it was truly difficult to climb the ranks through one’s own strength.