A Spring Branch About to Bloom

【Scheming, aloof Grand Tutor × beautiful, capable salt merchant】Taking down villains | Household warfare | A salt merchant’s revenge | Reviving an industry | Political intrigue Synopsis: “The willows are tender, the flowers bewitching, and the Cold Food Festival draws near. Everything about this weather is vexing.” Liu Jiaohua was a pampered young lady raised by a wealthy Jiangnan merchant. By her teens, she had blossomed into a graceful beauty of incomparable allure. She thought her peaceful life would go on as before. But her father lost his senses and took a vicious woman as his concubine. After the wedding, the woman made life difficult for Liu Jiaohua at every turn. Less than a year later, she gave birth to a son, and Liu Jiaohua found herself barely able to get by at home, accused of murdering her younger brother. Her father flew into a rage. Swayed by the woman’s lies, he planned to marry Liu Jiaohua off to the county magistrate’s simple-minded younger son. On the wedding day, her personal maid was beaten to death trying to save her. After that, Liu Jiaohua left home for the capital, seeking refuge with her mother’s distant cousin, Concubine Su. Greedy for money, the concubine resorted to threats and temptation to force her into becoming a concubine to her useless cousin. In the Duke of Guo’s household, there was a scheming concubine, a jealous secondary wife, a troublesome young brother-in-law, and a sharp-tongued sister-in-law. Liu Jiaohua could just about handle them all, but there was one person she could never figure out. The household also had an elder brother who served as Grand Tutor to the emperor: Zhu Yanzhi, cool as the moon and powerful enough to sway the court. With nowhere else to turn, Liu Jiaohua had no choice but to seek Zhu Yanzhi’s cooperation to protect herself. The man had handsome brows and starry eyes, his expression cool and distant. He looked at Liu Jiaohua kneeling before him, then lifted her chin with a long finger and asked coldly, “What is the meaning of this?” Liu Jiaohua gazed up at the powerful man before her and respectfully produced evidence that her cousin had been conspiring with others for personal gain. “Not enough.” Zhu Yanzhi chuckled, bending down until his lips were close to Liu Jiaohua’s soft, pale ear. “There’s you, too.”