Chapter 1: Does My Sister-in-Law Love the Plain Porridge Man?

“Mother, you don’t understand. That day, Master Liu personally boiled a bowl of white porridge for me. I’ve lived this long, and for the first time, I felt what it was like to have a home. In this life, I will marry no one but Master Liu.”

Gu Yunzhu said this to the Old Madam, her voice hoarse and desperate.

The Old Madam’s face turned ashen. She glared at Hanzhi, who was standing foolishly to the side, but Hanzhi remained silent, standing there like a piece of wood.

In the past, Hanzhi would have certainly taken charge and confined Gu Yunzhu to her room.

But today, Hanzhi did not say a word.

She stood there blankly, like a wooden post.

The Old Madam was a woman who valued wealth and despised poverty. She looked down on such poor scholars. Gu Yunzhu was her youngest daughter, born with great beauty, and she was certain she could marry into a wealthy and noble family in the future.

If it weren't for the decline of the Marquis’s estate, she never would have allowed her most promising son to marry the daughter of a merchant like this.

“Yunzhu, you know your mother’s concerns. I am thinking of your future; how can you be so stubborn?” The Old Madam tried to persuade her.

“Mother, I have already decided. I want to marry him. Even if he is just a poor scholar, I am willing to spend my whole life with him.” Gu Yunzhu’s attitude was resolute.

“Yunzhu, you are forcing your mother.” The Old Madam’s voice rose a notch.

“Mother, I am not forcing you. I am simply trying to pursue my own happiness,” Gu Yunzhu replied.

“Fine. Since you have already decided, there is nothing more I can say.” The Old Madam finally compromised.

She knew Gu Yunzhu’s personality; once she made up her mind, it was difficult to change.

Although she did not approve of this relationship, since her daughter insisted, the Old Madam did not want to play the villain.

“Thank you, Mother,” Gu Yunzhu said happily.

“Handle your own affairs; I can no longer manage so much,” the Old Madam said with a look of indifference.

However, after Gu Yunzhu left, the Old Madam’s eyes were filled with frost.

“Hanzhi, Zhuer is my only daughter. If that scholar Liu were truly a good man, he would certainly have come to the door to propose marriage himself, rather than seducing Zhuer in private.

To make Zhuer take the initiative to speak of this marriage—if the Liu family were just an ordinary, slightly poor family, that would be one thing. Scholar Liu has some talent; if he took the imperial examinations, he would surely make the list.

But the Liu family is disgraced. Scholar Liu’s sister has become a government-sanctioned courtesan. Our Marquis’s estate absolutely cannot be associated with such people. I am old, and Yunhan is a man; he cannot have his future affected by these inner-chamber matters. You go and handle this!”

“*Cough, cough, cough!* Mother is right. This daughter-in-law will certainly handle this matter properly.”

Hanzhi said to the Old Madam while coughing.

Naturally, Hanzhi would not do this.

In the original book’s plot, the female lead gave Scholar Liu a sum of money, using both threats and inducements to force him to move away from the capital, and then used other means to ensure Gu Yunzhu married into a powerful, wealthy family.

Gu Yunzhu was not only ungrateful but hated the female lead to the core.

She not only frequently insulted the female lead and caused the Old Madam to heap all sorts of harsh treatment upon her, leading to the female lead’s knees being ruined from kneeling, but that wasn't enough to satisfy her. Later, after the Marquis’s estate rose to power and exhausted the female lead’s utility, she slowly fed her chronic poison, leaving the female lead bedridden and wishing for death. All the maids around her were dismissed, causing the female lead to be covered in bedsores.

Then, she delivered the final blow.

She told the female lead the whole truth.

The female lead refused to believe it, and in the end, Gu Yunzhu had the concubine-born son whom the female lead had raised with her own hands poison her to death, leaving the female lead to die with her eyes wide open in resentment.

That Scholar Liu also hated the female lead bitterly. Once he gained power, he began to target the female lead’s maiden family, causing them to be ruined and seizing all their property.

In truth, in the book, Gu Yunzhu married into a powerful family and the couple lived happily. The powerful family even helped the Liu family clear their name. Scholar Liu was indeed a capable man; he passed the provincial examination, and because of his connection to Gu Yunzhu, both of them lived well in the story, each finding their beloved.

Hanzhi certainly did not want to create two more enemies because of this.

Hanzhi was not truly ill; she was faking it.

As for managing the household, Hanzhi was truly...

“Hanzhi! You must take good care of your health. The entire Marquis’s estate relies on you.”

The Old Madam fed Hanzhi empty promises.

She hadn't expected that just because she had been a bit harsh and made her kneel in the ancestral hall for a day, Hanzhi would fall so ill and never recover. Even standing today, she looked unsteady.

Hanzhi bowed respectfully to the Old Madam, expressing her gratitude for the concern, before withdrawing.

The etiquette in this Marquis’s estate was truly excessive. Hanzhi couldn't stand it. Over the past few days, she had used her feigned illness to bury herself in study, working even harder than she had during her postgraduate entrance exam preparations.

The original owner was merely a merchant’s daughter; who knew how many people envied her for marrying into this Marquis’s estate.

But if it were truly a good family, how would it ever have been the original owner’s turn?

First of all, even without a mistress, the master of the house already had concubines and a concubine-born son. Which noble daughter would be willing to marry into such a family?

Furthermore, the Marquis’s estate was currently in a period of decline.

The Zhenyuan Marquis’s family were all experts in military strategy and warfare.

But now, the world was at peace, the current Emperor governed well, and all the surrounding small nations had been subdued.

There were no rebels to suppress.

Therefore, the imperial court was essentially the domain of civil officials.

Hanzhi’s husband possessed martial arts skills, but had no place to use them.

Of course, the main reason was that when the current Emperor ascended the throne, the Zhenyuan Marquis’s estate had not stood on the right side. The old Marquis had used his own life to preserve the estate.

Outwardly, he died of illness, but in reality, he had committed suicide by poison.

Ever since the old Marquis passed away, the estate had been in decline.

It was precisely for this reason that no noble daughter in the capital was willing to marry into this house; everyone feared bringing disaster upon themselves.

And as for the title, the original owner’s husband naturally had not inherited it. If the Old Madam were to pass away, the plaque of the Zhenyuan Marquis’s estate would naturally be reclaimed.

Hanzhi’s husband, Gu Yunhan, had one dream in his life: to restore the glory of the Marquis’s estate and inherit his father’s title.

In the book, Gu Yunhan was a man of both literary and martial talent, quite calculating, meticulous in his actions, and skilled at acting.

However, the person he truly favored was a concubine of the old Marquis, so it was a relationship that could never see the light of day.

If this matter were ever exposed, Gu Yunhan’s future would be completely ruined.

That was why he had married Hanzhi—thinking that because of her low status, she would be easy to control.

When Hanzhi had read this book before, she had been waiting for the female lead to strike back, so no matter how melodramatic or heart-wrenching the plot was, she had endured it.

As it turned out, the book was written purely for the sake of suffering. Right up until the finale, the female lead never struck back; instead, she was poisoned by the son she had raised herself.

The female lead died, and the book naturally ended.

When Hanzhi saw this ending, she was so angry she nearly vomited blood, and she had practically cursed the author’s ancestors for three generations.

Such an anti-social, anti-human plot.

Who could stand it!

But thinking about it now, Hanzhi felt she could endure it. She would rather be a corporate slave in the modern world than live in ancient times.

Thinking carefully, it was fortunate she hadn't transmigrated as a beggar, and at least her limbs were intact.

Hanzhi stopped complaining internally and began to face life proactively.

Since she was here, she would make the best of it.

(End of chapter)