A Clear Sparrow Falls on a Cold Branch

[One-on-one romance + strong female lead + political intrigue + ensemble cast + woman disguised as a man] At the age of ten, Xie Youning watched her mother die by the sword and her elder brother fall in a pool of blood. The Xie family was wiped out. She hid in the woodshed and narrowly escaped with her life. Five years later, under the assumed name Liang Yanchu, she passed the palace examinations as a disaster refugee from Hexi, placing second, and entered the imperial court. She intends to uncover the truth behind the accusation that her father, Xie An, cheated in the examinations and clear the Xie family's name. But undercurrents roil the court, while the people of Haixi beyond the frontier are watching like tigers poised to pounce. More troublesome still is Qin Zhong, the dashing and valiant general of the Flying Cavalry, who keeps looking at her thoughtfully with his captivating eyes. He doesn't know she's a woman, and she doesn't know what secrets he's hiding. As a foreign faith of blue-eyed, blond-haired believers spreads across the Western Regions and everyone's fate is drawn into a vast conspiracy, how long can she keep her identity hidden?