Mu Nujiao returned to the Ancient Capital with Han Ji.
Remembering her family's parting words, she felt a tangle of emotions.
Mu Shan hadn't been wrong.
From his perspective, Zhou Sining was merely a commoner with a bright future. Compared with their vast clan, he was hardly worth mentioning.
Recruiting him as a subordinate or a retainer, or even marrying him to a daughter of lower standing, would have been fine.
But not to Mu Nujiao.
As a direct-line heir raised to the highest standards, she was destined to become one of the family's leaders.
Since she was part of the family, her value had to be used to its fullest.
Arranged marriages weren't something only she faced.
Her elder brother Mu Hua, her younger sister Mu Nuxin, even Mu Shan and Mu Zhanxing... everyone was a pawn in this game of wealth and status.
Without overwhelming power, no one had the right to escape the cage.
By comparison, Mu Nujiao's situation wasn't too bad.
At least Mu Shan hadn't forced her. He'd agreed that she could choose someone who would go through the motions with her while they each lived their own lives.
To people in that world, marriage was simply the most efficient way to forge an alliance. What mattered was how benefits were gathered and divided.
Even if the pawns offered up for marriage didn't like each other, both families would generally expect them to show restraint for the alliance's sake and act like a good husband and wife.
If they truly couldn't get along, they could keep lovers on the side. They just had to hide it well.
In the past, Mu Nujiao had been unhappy about it, but she hadn't entirely rejected the system.
Now, she couldn't accept such a warped relationship, much less the