Among the great families of this age, eloquence was considered a mark of talent. At its best, one could outwit a room full of scholars and settle the fate of the realm with a single sentence; at its least, one could converse with ease and speak in a stream of brilliant quips. One sage even sighed, “A noblewoman who cannot sew may still make a fine wife, but one who cannot debate is hardly fit to marry.” And yet the Jiang family had a legitimate daughter named Zixuan, called Third Lady. She became mute and vacant at five, and though she recovered at ten, she was already accustomed to stuttering. A Jiang daughter like that was unfit to marry into a great house. Noble sons looked down on her, arrogant young men scorned her, and other girls shut her out. And yet this very Jiang daughter had a clever heart and mastered an impressive range of skills, captivating the sons of great families and arousing the jealousy of noblewomen. And though she lived in a turbulent age amid endless yellow sands, this same Jiang daughter ultimately found a true love who never abandoned her.
I skipped halfway through and watched the ending. I wanted to give it three stars because this book is quite old, but the author has another book that I really like, though I've forgotten the title—I read it many years ago too. This is the only book the author has uploaded to Tomato Books.