Springtime in East City

I ask of the eastern city's spring, as Grain Rain arrives, when peonies bloom.

Wang Yun, Yuan Dynasty

The Peony Gentleman, Yu Xiaomo, is not only handsome, but also a prodigy with brush and ink. Yet when he is injured saving someone in an accident, his right hand is left impaired and unable to hold a brush. Everyone laments that fate is unpredictable and Heaven envies the gifted.

Lin Guyu refuses to obey her family's plans for her marriage, leaves home with nothing, and lives alone in the countryside. Clear-minded and independent, gentle on the outside but strong within, she is perceptive and clever, yet wants nothing more than a quiet life, free as a cloud or a wild crane.

In the season of drizzling spring rain, the two become neighbors in the countryside. When two souls who refuse to compromise or surrender to life in a corrupt world meet, their destinies begin to change.

Yu Xiaomo, a calligraphy prodigy who fell from the summit to the depths, is named a peerless statesman by the emperor despite his disabled right hand.

Lin Guyu rises from an ordinary young woman to become the first female marquis in the history of the Guyuan Dynasty. She is admired by all scholars and revered as the Goddess of Heavenly Rain.

Grain Rain: Rain nourishes the grains and new hope takes root.

The peony: It would give its life to bloom, its beauty surpassing every flower.

Older woman-younger man romance (two years apart)

Clear-minded and independent older heroine, gentle but strong on the inside X gloomy, lovesick genius younger hero

(The title and blurb are provisional and may be revised later.)

Theme: Face difficulties with positivity and courage, and live life on your own terms.