Summary
Orphaned Gu Qingning was brought up in the household of the Marquis of Guangping and betrothed to Lu Hangzhi, while her cousin Shen Ruoying was promised to his elder brother Lu Jingyu. After Lu Jingyu was reported dead in battle, Shen, afraid of being labeled a widow of ill omen, schemed to take Gu’s intended groom for herself. To Gu’s shock, Lu Hangzhi then demanded she accept the humiliating role of his concubine. Unwilling to surrender her dignity, Gu Qingning made a defiant choice—to wed the memorial tablet of the deceased Lu Jingyu, thereby claiming the respected position of principal wife to the late heir.