The Wu Family had targeted Shen Zexi because they knew Shen Shixu had placed first in the imperial examinations and become the Top Scholar. Afraid he still resented them for breaking off the engagement, they wanted to get back on good terms with the Shen family.
But the Shen family wanted nothing more to do with them and refused to play along.
The Wu Family therefore set their sights on Shen Zexi, planning to use the family heirloom to force him to return, then make the situation irreversible.
But something had gone wrong, and the person they had arranged for had actually died.
The Wu Family's aim was to bring Shen Zexi back, drug him, and have him sleep with their daughter. Then they could force the Shen family to accept her.
With that marriage connection in place, they could devote their efforts to winning Shen Zexi over. Shen Shixu respected his elder brother deeply, so with Shen Zexi putting in a good word for them, they would not only escape any reckoning but might even rise to great heights.
The girl they had chosen was the one previously engaged to Shen Zexi. After Shen Shixu had caused a huge commotion back then, the powerful connection the Wu Family had worked so hard to secure had abandoned them too.
In the end, the girl had never married. Since Shen Shixu had made such a public scene, no one of any standing was willing to take her as a wife.
Some men from families beneath the Wu Family had come to propose, but the Wu Family looked down on them. Thus, they had never married the girl off, and she remained at home to this day.
As for why the powerful connection the Wu Family had secured back then had not