Chapter 1

When I was eighteen, my adopted younger sister and I tossed silk balls to choose our husbands. In the chaos, my own brother hurled my ball into the crowd.

In the end, it landed in the hands of the Gong family's foolish young master.

My adopted sister's ball, meanwhile, was caught by my childhood sweetheart.

I stared at my brother in disbelief. He knew perfectly well that I had secretly loved Lu Zhixing since we were children.

He lowered his head guiltily, yet still had the nerve to say that Zhixing could marry me as his concubine.

Everyone was waiting to see me take thirty lashes and then be forced to call off the match in humiliation.

I flicked my sleeve and told Nanny Feng firmly, “Prepare my wedding gown. I’ll marry this man!”

1.

The Cheng clan had an absurd family rule.

When a girl turned eighteen, she had to toss a silk ball to choose her husband. If she changed her mind afterward, she would receive thirty lashes and be struck from the family register.

My name is Cheng Heng.

That year, I had just turned eighteen. My elder brother, Cheng Yubai, had thumped his chest and promised he would wait beneath the tower and make sure only Lu Zhixing—my childhood friend—caught my silk ball.

I believed him.

On the day of the ball toss, my adopted younger sister, Cheng Wanrou, and I stood side by side on the upper floor. Her face was as pale as fresh paper, both hands wrapped tightly around her ball, her eyes fixed longingly on Lu Zhixing.

I threw my ball toward my brother and Zhixing.

But my brother was too busy protecting Wanrou’s ball. He gave it a gentle lift, and Zhixing immediately leapt up to catch it. Its red ribbon fluttered in his palm.

Cheers erupted below.

Wanrou rushed to the railing, her eyes curving like a crescent moon. My brother clapped and laughed.

“Wanrou can finally stop worrying!”

Only when they turned back did they notice that my hands were empty.

My ball had been passed from person to person by the crowd. At last it rolled to the roadside and dropped straight into a young man’s arms.

He wore a faded blue robe, his hair tied up crookedly. Hugging the silk ball, he grinned foolishly.

He was Gong Yan, the Gong family’s eldest son, who was said to be simple-minded.

Nanny Feng, the wet nurse who had cared for me since childhood, was so worried that her eyes reddened.

“Miss, according to the family rule…”

I walked down the stairs, my legs unsteady. Yet as I passed the rear courtyard, I heard Lu Zhixing ask my brother in a lowered voice:

“Heng’s ball landed in Gong Yan’s hands. What are we going to do?”

My brother sounded unconcerned. “She’s been in love with you since childhood. Thirty lashes are nothing. She can endure them.”

“Besides, Wanrou once saved your mother. How could we let her marry a stranger?”

Lu Zhixing was silent for a long while. At last he murmured, “Her health has always been delicate.”

I hid behind the moon-gate archway, my nails digging into my palms.

It was true that Wanrou had once saved Madam Lu. Last year, when Madam Lu fell into the lotus pond, Wanrou had shouted for help.

But I had been the first one to jump in and rescue Madam Lu.

By the time Wanrou arrived, I had already pulled her to the water’s edge.

She had stolen the credit for saving Madam Lu. Now she wanted to steal my marriage as well.

To my brother, thirty lashes were no more than a trifling matter.

I wiped the tears from my face and turned away.

Nanny Feng hurried after me. “Miss, where are you going?”

I looked in the direction Gong Yan had gone and answered calmly but firmly, “Prepare my wedding gown. I’ll marry him!”

2.

The moment Mother heard, she hurried over and raised her hand to slap me.

I tilted my head aside, and her hand struck empty air. The jade-inlaid guard on her nail skimmed my ear.

“You would marry a fool just because you’re angry?” Mother trembled with fury. “Have you no thought for the Cheng family’s reputation?”

I placed the marriage certificate from the silk-ball ceremony on the table.

“Mother, hundreds of people witnessed it. Gong Yan caught my ball, so he is my husband. If you think he brings shame on the Cheng family, then you can take those thirty lashes for me.”

Mother’s expression stiffened at once.

My brother rushed into the room and reached for my sleeve.

“Heng, stop making a scene. Zhixing said that after you’ve taken your punishment, he’ll still marry you.”

I flung his hand away.

“Who wants him?”

My brother froze.

I stared straight at him, my voice cold. “When you were doing everything you could to arrange Wanrou’s marriage, did you remember that I’m your younger sister too? She was afraid of being whipped, so you pushed me forward to take the punishment instead. Fine. Love her as much as you please, but don’t meddle in my affairs anymore.”

Cheng Wanrou stood by the doorframe, tears streaming down her face.

“Elder Sister, I truly didn’t know Brother would do this…”

“Save your tears.” I cut her off. “If you really didn’t know, you’d go to the Lu family now and tell Lu Zhixing to return the silk ball. Are you willing to do that?”

Her lips moved, but for a long moment she said nothing.

I laughed. “If you won’t, then stop pretending to be wronged.”

Father sat in the seat of honor, frowning as he tapped the table.

“The Gong family has long since fallen into decline. Gong Yan can barely speak clearly. Once you marry into that household, don’t come crying back to the Cheng family.”

I answered calmly, “Have I ever been allowed to make my own decisions in this family? Why would I come back looking for more misery?”

The room fell so quiet you could have heard a pin drop.

For years, my parents had said that Wanrou was pitiful and that I must give way to her.

When she fell ill, my heating charcoal and bird’s-nest soup had to be sent to her first.

When she fell in love with Lu Zhixing, Mother told me to stop visiting the Lu family so often.

And now, even my marriage had to give way to the debt of gratitude she claimed for saving his mother.

I took the dowry inventory Mother had prepared from my jewelry box and tore it into pieces in front of everyone.

“Keep these ten chests of dowry for Wanrou. I’ll prepare my own.”

Mother immediately grew anxious. “Those shops and fields belong to the Cheng family!”

“Then leave them with the Cheng family.”

I pulled out several land deeds.

“But the two incense shops my maternal grandfather left me are registered in my name. And the money I’ve saved from embroidery over the years is enough to arrange my wedding.”

My brother ground his teeth. “You’ve truly decided to marry him?”

I lifted my chin. “Of course.”

That evening, the Gong family sent over a chest of betrothal gifts.

It was not large, and held no gems or jade—only a bolt of soft brocade, two boxes of fine wound medicine, and a slip of paper covered in crooked handwriting.

It said:

A-Heng, don’t be afraid.

Gong Yan’s name was written beneath it.

Could a fool really write my name?

I turned the paper over and over, unable to make sense of it.

Nanny Feng’s eyes reddened with emotion. “The young master truly cares for you, Miss.”

I slipped the note beneath my pillow. “Let’s see how things go after I marry him.”

3.

On my wedding day, not a single person from the Cheng family came to see me off.

Father said there was an urgent matter at the shop. Mother claimed Wanrou had been frightened, and my brother took her to burn incense outside the city.

As Nanny Feng arranged my hair, her hands shook with anger.

I gently pressed down on them. “Nanny, straighten my phoenix crown. Today is my wedding day, not the day I go begging.”

The Gong family’s bridal sedan stopped at the gate. Gong Yan himself had come to escort me.

He rode a chestnut-red horse with a large red flower pinned to his chest. When he saw me emerge, he immediately jumped down.

He was tall and handsome, yet he clutched a wooden bird and gave me a vacant grin.

“Wife.”

He pressed the wooden bird into my hand. “It can fly.”

I gently pressed its hidden mechanism. Sure enough, its wings began to flap.

People around us snickered.

I paid them no mind. Taking his hand, I climbed into the bridal sedan. The moment our palms touched, I felt how steady his fingers were, and noticed a thin layer of calluses. They were nothing like the hands of someone who spent his days playing in the dirt.

The Gong family mansion stood in the western part of the city. It was a sprawling old residence, but the paint had peeled from the gate in patches.

I had heard that after Master Gong died of illness, the second branch seized the family estate and drove Gong Yan to a remote side residence. For years, he had lived worse than the servants.

During the wedding rites, his second aunt, Madam Wei, laughed loudly, her tone dripping with mockery.

“Eldest Nephew has finally found himself a wife. Miss Cheng, you’ll have to be patient with him. When his fits come on, he even bites people!”

I lifted one corner of my veil and glanced at her. “If you know he has fits, why haven’t you found a physician to treat him? You seem to have plenty of time to stand here and mock other people.”

Madam Wei’s face darkened.

Gong Yan suddenly tugged at my sleeve and ducked behind me as though truly frightened.

I patted the back of his hand, then told the matchmaker, “The auspicious hour has arrived. Let us continue the ceremony.”

The bridal chamber was cold and bare. There was half a pot of cold tea on the table and a red candle nearly burned down.

Gong Yan sat on the edge of the bed, hugging his wooden bird as he looked up at me.

I removed my phoenix crown and asked directly, “Are you really foolish, or are you only pretending?”

He blinked, then suddenly stuffed a peanut into his mouth.

I caught his wrist and pulled the peanut out. “Answer me.”

He looked at me. The unfocused haze in his eyes gradually cleared, revealing the alertness beneath.

The candlewick crackled.

He straightened and spoke in a clear, steady voice. “Miss Cheng is indeed bold.”

My heart gave a slight jolt.

“My name is Cheng Heng, and I’m your wife now.”

He laughed, a faint smile at the corner of his lips. “Very well, wife.”

“Why pretend to be a fool?”

“Someone wants me to remain a fool for the rest of my life.”

He reached out and adjusted the candlewick.

“My father left behind account books concerning the transport of grain by waterway. The second branch and the Cheng family have been searching for them. After I woke from the poison, I decided to keep pretending so they would lower their guard.”

At the mention of the Cheng family, my expression turned cold.

“The Cheng family is involved too?”

“What I have in hand isn’t enough yet.” He looked at me. “If you want to leave, I’ll arrange for someone to take you out of the city. I’ll find a way to resolve the marriage contract.”

I walked up to him, picked up the cold teapot, and poured its contents onto the floor.

“Gong Yan, now that I’ve crossed the threshold of the Gong family, I’m not going to slink back to the Cheng residence.”

I met his eyes. “Whatever the Cheng family owes me, I’ll demand it back myself.”

“You want to investigate those account books? I can help you. But on one condition: don’t hide anything from me.”

He was silent for a moment. Then he took a small key from his sleeve and placed it in my palm.

“From now on, you can manage the innermost cabinet in the western room. Inside are banknotes, seals, and the clues I’ve gathered over the years.”

The key pressed into my palm.

I closed my fingers around it. My heart was still in turmoil, but at least some of the resentment I’d felt on entering the Gong household had eased.