Character She possessed an air of tranquility and maintained a low profile in her daily life. When injustice was done unto her, she quietly took it all in, her character defined the ideal conservative woman of olden times. When she was a maid, she exhibited a strong sense of loyalty to her mistress, when married, she fulfilled her role as the virtuous wife and took good care of her husband. Though not a person of high academic status, she was one who worked meticulously. Full of warmth and affection for people, she would go out of her way to help others, even if it meant sacrificing herself. Background Xu Shi came from a poor farming family. When she was still very young, she was sold into the Wang family to serve as a maid to Wang Yi Jie. Because she was an attentive and well-organized worker, she gained the fondness of Wang Yi Jie, who brought her along everywhere she went. Wang Yi Jie wanted to catch a glimpse of Jiang Nan's beauty, but was prohibited by her mom and instead, was kept at home to learn the ways of "proper" customary behaviors. One day, unable to withstand the feeling of being cooped up any longer, she got Xu Shi to escape with her. This posed as a big challenge to Xu Shi as she had never been to Jiang Nan before. Alas, they ran into kidnappers along the journey and Yi Jie was taken away. Xu Shi was of course, extremely panicky. Though weak from exhaustion, she made herself travel to all corners in search of Yi Jie, finally locating her in Yang Zhou. By then, Yi Jie had become the servant of Zheng Ban Qiao, Huang Shen and Jin Nong. When Xu Shi realized what had happened, she, of course, insisted on taking over Yi Jie's role. During the period of serving Zheng Ban Qiao, Xu Shi became highly captivated by the well mannered ways of Zheng Ban Qiao and developed a secret admiration for him. But when she found out later on that Yi Jie also liked the man, she instinctively stopped herself from developing any further thoughts. Then came the time when Yi Jie was to be married to Zheng Ban Qiao, but old madam Wang did not want this to happen and sent Xu Shi as the bride-replacement instead. This was to Xu Shi both a sorrow and joy, sorrow because Yi Jie could not be with her loved one and joy that she now shared a legitimate relationship of husband and wife with the man. But Xu Shi did not enjoy a good life after she was married into the Zheng family. Her husband mistook her for conspiring with the Wang family to cheat him out of the marriage, and treated her with constant aloofness. As a result, what they bore was just a title and not the actual act of husband and wife. However, Xu Shi did not put this coldness into her heart. With the acknowledgement that she was now his wife, she stood by her man and took good care of him. Even when she was hollered at, she did not utter a word of displeasure. In the end, her character touched Zheng Ban Qiao and the two resumed a healthy couple relationship. Though Xu Shi knew her own knowledge was inadequate, she still tried her best at assisting Zheng Ban Qiao handle his daily affairs. One day, Yi Jie dropped by for a visit. She wanted Zheng Ban Qiao to help her husband write a book and present it as a gift to Yong Zheng (the emperor). During the times when Yi Jie and Zheng Ban Qiao were together, their old flame rekindled. Xu Shi saw all these but did not voice out anything, because she felt that Zheng Ban Qiao should rightfully belong to Yi Jie from the start. Xu Shi even planned on retreating quietly when the timing was right, so as to let the two get together. But who would have known that Yong Zheng was up with an evil plan, causing Yi Jie to lose everything in the midst of all the dirty politics. What had started out as help turned into harm, and Zheng Ban Qiao felt that he was to be blamed. He was distraught and turned self-destructive. In order to help him get to his feet again, Xu Shi attempted everything she could think of. She used up all her money and bought Zheng Ban Qiao's works secretly, in order to lead him into thinking that there was still demand for his work in the market, that he still had a goal to strive for in life. Later when Zheng Ban Qiao found out the truth, he was very grateful and decided to start anew for the sake of Xu Shi. Under Xu Shi's encouragement, he went on to sit for the Imperial exam but just as he was attaining his title, Xu Shi's life became endangered during a miscarriage. Though Xu Shi knew her life was hanging on a thread, she still insisted on making plans for Zheng Ban Qiao's life. At her deathbed, she matchmade Rao Wu Mei with her husband so that he would continue to have someone trustworthy to take good care of him. She left with a soft smile lingering on her face.