Meeting You This Night

Su He is a seventeen-year-old woman born into the prestigious Su family, yet she occupies the lowest rung of its social hierarchy. The daughter of a lowly merchant woman from Jiangnan and Su Heng, a high-ranking official, she was raised in the rear courtyard with no education, no affection, and no protection. Her mother died in childbirth, leaving Su He to endure years of abuse from her legal mother, Madam Su, and her elder half-sister, Su Jinlan. The Su family plans to sell Su He to the sixty-nine-year-old Old Marquis Pei as a concubine, a fate that almost certainly means death or permanent mutilation, as the old man is known for destroying young girls. Desperate to escape this doom, Su He devises a risky plan: she will instead offer herself to Pei Yan, the eccentric and ruthless Heir of the Pei family, who is the Young Uncle of the Old Marquis. She believes that bearing Pei Yan’s child will grant her the status and protection she needs to survive and eventually reclaim her life.

At a Lotus Flower Banquet, Su He successfully drugs Pei Yan with wine laced with an aphrodisiac and slips into his bed. The encounter is fierce and dominant; Pei Yan, though initially intoxicated, quickly asserts his control. Su He endures his roughness, viewing it as the necessary price for her freedom. The next day, her stepmother discovers her absence and subjects her to brutal kneeling discipline on sharp pebbles under the scorching sun. Just as the punishment threatens to kill her, Pei Yan’s men arrive to claim her. However, Pei Yan does not take her to the Old Marquis’s estate as intended. Instead, he takes her to his own secluded Bamboo Garden, revealing that he intercepted her from the Su family. He treats her as a concubine and a plaything, stripping her of her dignity but granting her safety from her abusive relatives. Su He accepts this arrangement, knowing it is her only path to survival.

Life in the Pei residence is a complex mix of luxury and humiliation. Su He is provided with fine clothes, food, and shelter, but she is strictly forbidden from bearing children. She is forced to drink contraceptive decoctions daily, a fact that deeply distresses her, as she harbors a secret desire for a family of her own. Her past trauma is revealed when a doctor diagnoses her with infertility caused by years of cold-natured medicine administered by Madam Su, who sought to ensure Su He could never produce an heir to challenge the legitimate line. This discovery adds a layer of tragedy to Su He’s situation; she is trapped in a body that the Su family deliberately ruined, yet she is now in a household where bearing a child is the only route to power. She must navigate the treacherous politics of the Pei estate while hiding her true intentions and her past suffering.

A significant complication arises with the return of Ye Lang, a general and Su He’s childhood crush. Ye Lang, who has always protected Su He, is shocked to find her in Pei Yan’s bed. He believes she was forced and offers to take her away, but Su He refuses, choosing to remain with Pei Yan to secure her independence. Her rejection hurts Ye Lang, but it also solidifies her resolve. She realizes that relying on others, even a benevolent figure like Ye Lang, is dangerous. She must rely on herself and her wits. Pei Yan, aware of her feelings for Ye Lang, becomes possessive and jealous, punishing Su He physically and emotionally. Despite his cruelty, he also shows moments of unexpected care, such as teaching her to write and providing her with medical treatment for her nosebleeds, a lingering effect of her past abuse.

The central conflict intensifies when Old Marquis Pei, humiliated by Su He’s escape, confronts Pei Yan and demands Su He be handed over. In a dramatic turn, Pei Yan forces the Old Marquis to kowtow to him, asserting his dominance and protecting Su He. This act signals that Su He has become a valuable asset in Pei Yan’s eyes, not just a disposable concubine. However, Princess Chang, Pei Yan’s mother, remains suspicious and hostile toward Su He, viewing her as a lowly interloper who threatens the family’s order. Su He must now navigate the delicate balance between gaining Pei Yan’s favor and surviving the machinations of the Princess and her own past. The story follows her journey from a victim of familial abuse to a strategic player in the dangerous world of imperial politics, using her beauty and intelligence to carve out a space for herself in a society that seeks to discard her.