“If you were a man, you could rival Marquis Zhenbei.” Listening to Mu Wan’s perfectly reasoned speculation, Zhu Nanxi felt a chill. Who else could deduce so much information from a simple shopping list?
Mu Wan lifted her chin in pride, “Oh well, don’t praise me too much.”
Zhu Nanxi rolled her eyes. “So your plan is to leak this information to that mother and daughter duo and let them choose?” She tilted her head, pondering, “Those two definitely would not think as deeply as you. Compared to being the legitimate wife of a sixth-rank compiler1, they’d probably prefer to gamble on entering the palace and earning the Emperor’s favor. No wonder Mu Rou firmly rejected that Li Liulang2 this afternoon! Turns out she wasn’t playing hard to get, but had already set her eyes on a higher target!”
Mu Wan nodded in approval, “Smart.”
“No, wait!” Zhu Nanxi suddenly realized. “I almost got fooled by you. Even if Mu Rou wants to enter the palace, that Li Liulang still has feelings for her, right? And you still want to continue this marriage?”
Leaning against the edge of the pool, Mu Wan smiled indifferently, “Of course, why wouldn’t I? After all, it’s not him I’m going to marry.”
Despite her appearance, Mu Wan’s core was no longer some naïve teenager still dreaming about love. On the contrary, she had seen all kinds of couples and knew full well that lifelong love was a luxury rarely found and hardly attainable.
Even in modern society where monogamy is legally enforced, mistresses and secret lovers still pop up all the time. What more could be expected in an era where polygamy was legal? Chasing the ideal of a lifetime of love with one person was nothing more than asking for trouble.
To be honest, not getting married at all would have been her ideal. Unfortunately, in this era, if a woman didn’t marry, she either had to dedicate herself to a life of celibacy in some secluded nunnery or be bound by countless social rules—the cost was too high. So, from the moment she had accepted the inevitability of marriage, she had already made a plan.
In her eyes, marriage in this era was less about finding a husband and more about finding a job. After more than a decade of professional training at home, a girl would reach the right age and seek out a company where she could serve as a CEO-in-training. In most cases, after a few years of hard work, she could rise to power. If she was lucky and there was no mother-in-law, or the mother-in-law didn’t want to meddle, she could step directly into the role of CEO.
What’s most important was that the imperial court had clear laws protecting the rights of CE—uh, rather, the wives. For instance, a woman’s dowry was wholly her own, and neither the husband nor his family had a right to touch it without her consent, and men were also forbidden from elevating concubines over the legal wives.
In other words, even if she couldn’t become the CEO right away, a woman could still use the family name to run her own branch office with her dowry, doing things as she pleased. Any profits would be hers, and even if the main company went under one day, the branch would remain unaffected.
As for concubines, they were merely subordinates. If they didn’t behave, she could find an excuse to fire them. However, the chairman of the board couldn’t easily dismiss his CEO wife.
So, as long as she didn’t daydream about falling in love with her boss, life could be as comfortable as she wished.
The only real headache was the job search process: Should she aim for a big corporation or a small business? Did the big company offer good benefits? Did the small one have potential?
Fortunately for Mu Wan, her capable mother had already taken care of that for her. At the time, Xu Qinglan had signed her up with a small, promising company, which had since grown into a large state-owned enterprise. The current CEO, the family matriarch Old Madam Li, was especially fond of her, so her future seemed pretty comfortable.
The only issue was that she wasn’t comfortable with the idea of physical intimacy with a stranger, but Li Yichen could easily solve that on his own. In this way, they would be a couple in name only, allowing her to enjoy the prestige of being the CEO of a major company without having to serve a man. Was there any better marriage arrangement?
Zhu Nanxi, of course, couldn’t understand Mu Wan’s ‘unique’ thinking. “If you’re not marrying Li Yichen, then who are you marrying?”
“I’m marrying the Count of Zhongyong household, of course,” Mu Wan chuckled in response. Who would give up power for a man? Besides, this power would give her complete freedom. At the very least, she would be free to wear any clothes, use all kinds of makeup, or style her hair as she pleased. Wasn’t that far more important than who holds a man’s heart?
“You’re terrifyingly clear-headed,” Zhu Nanxi looked at her with admiration. She then teased, “But since you’re choosing power, with your talents, marrying into the Count Zhongyong family is underselling yourself. You should marry into the Marquis Zhenbei family. If you’re going to pick, go for the top.”
“Since the end of his mourning period at the end of last year, all the top noble ladies in the capital have had their eyes on his marriage prospects. Let me tell you, if you marry him, you’ll be able to walk anywhere in the capital without fear.”
Upon hearing the name ‘Marquis Zhenbei,’ Mu Wan’s curiosity, which she had suppressed earlier, resurfaced. “Isn’t it said that he already has someone in his heart? Wait, didn’t he get engaged to the prime minister’s daughter? Which woman captured his heart later? Why are people still after him?”
“You don’t know?!” Zhu Nanxi was first surprised, then remembered. “Oh, right. You’ve been out of the capital for the past few years.”
She eagerly shared the gossip with Mu Wan. “His beloved is exactly the Senior Grand Secretary’s eldest daughter, Miss Xu, but they broke off their engagement two years ago.”
“Why?” Mu Wan was curious.
“Xie Heng stabbed Miss Xu with a sword.”
Mu Wan’s eyes widened.
“Haha, actually, he did it to save Miss Xu. You should know, he has many enemies, not only in the court but also among foreign tribes. At that time, assassins had kidnapped Miss Xu to threaten him. It’s said that he didn’t even blink and directly stab toward Miss Xu.”
Mu Wan raised her eyebrows, “Did Miss Xu get hurt?”
“No,” Zhu Nanxi shook her head. “The assassins were so shocked they froze, and Miss Xu was quickly rescued. But after that, the Xu family used his cold-heartedness toward Miss Xu as an excuse to break off the engagement.”
“In fact, I heard from my father that the Xu family was likely just looking for a reason. At that time, the entire men of Duke Zhenguo household had perished, leaving only Xie Heng. To make matters worse, he was severely injured, and his future was uncertain. Of course the Xu family didn’t want to bet their carefully raised daughter on him.”
“I also heard that after the engagement was broken off, Xie Heng locked himself in his study for three days and three nights without eating or drinking. When he finally appeared again, he was so haggard that a gust of wind could have blown him over. It was clear that he still had feelings for Miss Xu. For the past few years, he hasn’t shown any interest in other women.”
Mu Wan, her thirst for gossip was finally satisfied, concluded, “It seems Count Zhongyong family is still more suitable for me.”
Zhu Nanxi teased, “Weren’t you pursuing power? Go for the challenge! Don’t worry, Miss Xu has already married far away in Jiangnan. No matter how ruthless Marquis Zhenbei is, he wouldn’t go as far as to kill his wife.”
Mu Wan gave her a sideways glance, “Who said I am afraid of Xie Heng? I’m afraid of the assassins! Marquis Zhenbei might not kill his wife, but his enemies would. I’m getting married to enjoy life, not to become a hostage.”
Zhu Nanxi clapped her hands, “Fair point.”
The two looked at each other and burst into laughter.
…
The next day, news came from the palace announcing the imperial draft for the year: All girls aged fourteen to eighteen, unmarried and unengaged, from the families of seventh-rank officials and below are required to participate.
At the same time, Mu Rou, who had been unconscious for nearly a full day and night, groggily opened her eyes…
Shen-shi was initially overjoyed, “Finally, you’re awake!” She then became excited, “So the news is true, after all! My daughter is destined for the emperor!”
Mu Rou’s face suddenly changed, and she screamed, “No! I’m not going to the palace. Let Mu Wan go!”
Shen-shi reached out and touched her daughter’s sweaty forehead, “You must be delirious from your fever. What nonsense are you spouting? Why would we give such a great opportunity to that girl?”
Thinking her daughter didn’t understand, Shen-shi patiently explained, “The emperor was only sixteen when he ascended the throne and wasn’t yet married. For the past three years, he’s been observing mourning for the late emperor and empress dowager. This year is the first draft, and there are many positions available in the palace. With your looks and charms, it’s entirely possible you could rise to become a high-ranking consort!”
“Then you would be the pride of the Mu family! Even that girl Mu Wan would have to bow down to you!” Shen-shi grew more excited as she spoke. Her face lit up with a triumphant smile as if she could already envision herself flaunting her superiority in front of the stepdaughter she detested.
Mu Rou, however, gave an ugly smile that was more like a grimace. “Mother, the palace isn’t at all what we imagine.”
In her previous life, she had indeed quickly risen to the rank of consort after entering the palace. But it wasn’t because of any special talent—there were simply no daughters of powerful officials among the selected draft girls.
The empress dowager controlled the court, and the emperor was nothing but a puppet. The lower one’s status, the higher one rose in the inner palace. But what good was it to become a consort? In reality, her life had been worse than that of the legitimate wife of an ordinary official.
That wasn’t the worst of it. A few years later, the emperor died suddenly, and the previous emperor’s youngest son, born to the late empress, was brought back to the throne. Before they could even enjoy any wealth or glory, all the concubines and consorts were demoted to dowagers and sent to guard the imperial mausoleum…
Thinking of the miserable second half of her life, Mu Rou felt a chill run through her entire body.
And yet, Mu Wan had risen alongside Li Yichen, eventually becoming the wife of the prime minister. By then, the empress dowager had fallen, and the new emperor was too young to have concubines. Mu Wan had become the most powerful woman in the entire nation…
‘That honor should have belonged to me!’
Mu Rou clutched the blanket tightly. Perhaps even heaven couldn’t bear to see this injustice and had given her a chance to start over. This time, she would reclaim everything that was rightfully hers and make sure Mu Wan experienced the same loneliness and misery she had endured!
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- Compiler: A position in the Hanlin Academy, which is where most young officials who have just passed their imperial examinations are usually placed. Its main task is to draft, compile, and edit official documents.
- Liulang means ‘sixth son,’ with ‘liu’ meaning six and ‘lang’ being the common suffix for a boy. It is common to call someone not by their given name, but by their surname, followed by their birth order in the family. It’s kinda awkward to always translate ‘Sixth Young Master’ this or ‘Sixth Son’ there, so I’ll take liberty and use both the translation and the transliteration terms depending on context.
Oho! Interesting.