Marriage of the Di Daughter |LK ADAPTATION|

1. Pranpriya

The sun's hot rays shone in the capital city of Yanjing. All the street peddlers rested under the shade of trees to avoid the heat. In this kind of blistering hot weather, both the young misses and young masters of rich households loathed to go out and suffer the harshness of the sun's rays. Roaming on the streets where only the laborers, who carried things over their shoulders. At the well in the city center, they would immerse rice wine to make it ice-cold. They spared no effort in going back and forth to each and every gambling den and tea house, hoping for a thirsty and weary person to spare five copper coins to buy a bowl. With these coppers they would be able to buy a bag of rice. And this bag of rice, when boiled, would give them two pots of porridge, which was equal to three days of hard labor.

At a turn in the corner of the east city wall, there was a brand-new residence. A board was hung high in the middle of the door with four characters written on it: "Imperial Examination Top Scorer". Bright and dazzling, the residence together with the board were bestowed by the Emperor to represent the utmost honor and glory of being the top scorer in the imperial examinations. For a scholar to be able to achieve this much, made the whole family cry in tears and thank the ancestors for their blessings.

A brand-new residence, a board bestowed by the emperor. In the middle of a courtyard, people moved back and forth hurriedly. Despite the scorching heat outside, the interior of the residence was comfortably cool thanks to the ice cubes that were placed inside to relieve the heat. However, if one went beyond the courtyard towards the end of the garden, one would feel a chill at once.

Leaning against the wall, there was a room tucked at the foremost end. At that moment, three people were sitting outside the door: two young servant girls wearing pink, thin skirts, together with a plump middle-aged woman. The three people were facing a small stool where a pile of red-skinned melon seeds and a pot of pickled plum soup were placed. One hand eating while gossiping at the same time. Unexpectedly free and unrestrained in the presence of their master.

The servant girl on the left turned around to glance at the window and said: "Today, the smell of medicine still drifts off without fail; suffering yet not dying, really don't know when this will end."

"You little hussy1, talking behind madam's back?" the middle-aged woman admonished her, "Be careful not to have your skin peeled by the madam."

The servant girl objected: "How is that possible? The master hasn't set foot inside madam's courtyard for three months already." She continued while lowering her voice, "that affair caused such a ruckus outside. Our master can be considered kind-hearted, had it been anyone else..." She curled her lips, "I say, it would be better to kill herself straight away. In any case, her reputation is already completely ruined, leading this kind of life, isn't it just to burden other people."

The middle-aged woman hadn't replied yet when the other servant girl said: "Actually, madam is also pitiful, to be born so beautiful and talented with a sweet temper. Who would have imagined, she would face this kind of matter..."

Although they spoke in low voice, the afternoon was extremely quiet. With the partition not being too far away, each word and each sentence was transmitted clearly into the ear of the person inside the room.

On top of the bed, Xue Pranpriya was lying on her back. Clear, dried stains of tears could be seen at the outer corner of her eyes. Her thinning face was wan and sallow, drained of all color. Despite her sickly look, her quiet courage shook one to the core and made her look increasingly lovely.

In the past, she had a beautiful complexion, otherwise, she wouldn't have obtained the reputation of being the number one beauty of Yanjing. When she got married, a bored young master ordered a beggar to crash into her bridal sedan chair. Her veil slipped and revealed a delicate and beautiful face, which caused the people on both sides of the street to be unable to look away. Her father, Xue Huaiyuan, was the county deputy of Tongxiang, in Xiangyang province. At that time, he was deeply worried before sending her off to marry to the capital city of Yanjing, and said: "Ah2 Lî, with your good looks, I'm afraid Shen Jeahyun won't be able to protect you all the time."