The Unattractive Bride Sent as Dowry
She, Yun Xueyan, was the daughter of a disgraced concubine in the Grand Tutor’s household—unfavored from birth, and after half her face was ruined, utterly forgotten. Yet as fate would have it, she was sent as part of her third sister’s dowry to marry the cold-faced prince. She endured his heartless words and scornful mockery, for she had always known that only her sister inhabited his heart. But if he did not love her, why did he deny her the right to be loved? She once asked him, “If you do not love me, why keep me by your side? Is this not torment for you, and for me as well?” When, in his mercilessness, he cast her down the cliff, her body perished and her heart died; from that moment, their fates were severed with a single stroke. All she wished to tell him was, “Once there was affection from the concubine, but none from the lord; love and hatred, thus, parted ways.” Half a year passed. Concealed behind her veil, she once more stood before him. When the truth at last came to light, he was wracked with unbearable regret, yet nothing could be undone. All he heard was her final words, “I do not hate you, for with my death, all love perished.”
The Unattractive Bride Sent as Dowry
A wedding dress of brilliant red, a veil of the same vivid hue—everywhere Yun Xueyan looked, all she saw was an overwhelming sea of crimson descending upon her. Dizzy and disoriented, she sat inside the bridal sedan, feeling its swaying motion, unable to believe that she was truly being married.
Yes, she was being sent as a dowry for her elder sister.
Her mother had been no more than a concubine in the Grand Preceptor’s household and had long since lost favor. As for Yun Xueyan, she was the unwanted daughter, or perhaps it was more accurate to say she was no longer a lady at all, but a servant girl.
So why had her father, the Grand Preceptor, chosen to send her as a dowry? Did he believe she had not suffered enough humiliation? Or was it simply because she was so disregarded within the household that she was the obvious choice? To marry her off was better than giving away someone unblemished, surely. And besides, no one but her would be willing to risk incurring the wrath of her sister by vying for the prince’s attention.
She knew well of the prince’s reputation—he was cold and unyielding. Though she had never seen his face, tales of him had reached her years ago.
The deafening sound of firecrackers and the sharp, jarring notes of the suona filled her ears, but Yun Xueyan could find nothing celebratory in the cacophony. All she felt was a bitter, unyielding sorrow.
Even marrying into the prince’s household was a desperate hope to secure a better life for her mother. She had tried to resist, but her father knew exactly how to break her
