The rain in Jiangnan was always laden with lingering sorrow, much like the moisture clinging to Xiao Che's robes when Shen Luoyan first laid eyes on him. Back then, she was the most unfavored concubine-born daughter of the Shen Mansion, banished by her stepmother to the ancestral hall to copy scriptures. It happened to be when Xiao Che, the newly crowned top scholar, was taking shelter from the rain. He stood under the veranda, his green tunic scented with ink, his gaze as clear and cold as a wintry pool. Seeing her shivering with cold, he casually untied his outer robe and handed it to her, his voice warm yet detached: "Forgive me, miss, this may help keep the chill away."
The rain of that day fell for a full three years.
Three years later, Shen Luoyan became Xiao Che's wife. Not as the principal wife with a phoenix crown and embroidered robes, but carried into a side courtyard of the Xiao Mansion under the title of "concubine." Everyone in the world spoke of the influential Lord Xiao's deep affection—how, to rescue the fallen concubine-born daughter of the Shen family, he did not hesitate to navigate negotiations with Lady Liu, the primary wife and daughter of a high-ranking official, finally securing her entry into his household. Only Luoyan herself knew that this "deep affection" was nothing more than a forced demand she had bought with half her life and her family's honor.
Chapter 134