Destined (2023)

A merchant's daughter who has experienced many trials in her life and longed for a good marriage ends up with a well-known playboy. The two people in an arranged marriage learn to support each other and find love. Liu Yuru (Song Yi) is the daughter of a clothing merchant in Yangzhou. However, she has suffered many hardships as a child due to her birth mother being seriously ill, her stepmother being unkind, and her father paying no attention to her. Liu Yuru had no choice but to behave like a perfect lady for fifteen years. Alas, Liu Yuru's family marries her off to Gu Jiusi (Bai Jingting) who is a well-known playboy. What's worse, Gu Jiusi detests her because he thinks that she married him for money and power. A realization that she cannot let her fate be dependent on another person dawns on Liu Yuru, so she decides to learn how to be a merchant. Liu Yuru proves her worth and eventually wins the approval of her mother-in-law. Her impression of Gu Jiusi also begins to change when she discovers his pure, kind and passionate side. At this time, Yangzhou envoy Wang Shanquan's (Zhang Shaogang) perverse ways has left a lot of people homeless. The Gu family also had uproot their lives and flee. Gu Jiusi who used to live lavishly grows up overnight after witnessing the plights of thousands of refugees. He starts on a new path, working from the bottom as a constable and rising up the ranks to become an official. Together with wife Liu Yuru, they write a prosperous story together.