During a spring lake excursion, Yun Xiangye lost her footing and fell into the water. She was rescued by Gu Yan, a young man from a wealthy family who had come to Jiangnan to recuperate. To repay his life-saving grace, Yun Xiangye married Gu Yan. After three years of marriage and the birth of a daughter, her life was happy and fulfilling.
That was until she followed her husband back to Chang’an…
Only then did she discover that her husband was the son of a Princess, and his father was Prince Ning, a man of illustrious military merit and immense power.
She also learned that her husband had a childhood sweetheart in Chang’an—Lin Bolan, the daughter of the Prime Minister, who was waiting for Gu Yan to divorce his wife so they could rekindle their old flame.
There was also Wei Nian, a delicate cousin living in the Grand Princess’s Manor who had long admired her cousin. She refused to marry anyone but him, hoping he would divorce his wife and marry her instead.
Fu Anran, the younger sister of the Crown Princess and known as the greatest beauty in Chang’an, also had her sights set on her husband with deep affection.
Even Princess Nan’an of the Prince Chu’s Manor and Xu Mengqi, the daughter of the Marquis of Zhenbei, had sent matchmakers to propose to him three years ago. They had remained unmarried for three years, waiting for his return to Chang’an.
Yun Xiangye realized that every noble family in Chang’an believed her low-born status meant she would eventually be cast aside. Everyone in the city was counting down the days until Gu Yan divorced Yun Xiangye or demoted her to a concubine.
A gambling pool was even opened in the markets of Chang’an, with ten-to-one odds that Yun Xiangye would be divorced within three months.
Yun Xiangye stepped forward and placed a thick stack of hundred-tael banknotes on the “divorced within three months” option. Upon returning home, she handed a divorce letter to her husband, who seemed to attract admirers wherever he went, and said: “Sign it.”
Don’t get in the way of me winning money!
Gu Yan: “??”
