Fresh Green Peach Branches in the Courtyard

Foolish beauty × sickly, powerful nobleman As a child, A Rui fell from a horse and injured her head. She began to stutter and wasn’t very bright anymore. After her parents died, she went to live at the Marquis of Yongning’s estate because she had been betrothed to the heir since childhood. Her cousin, the young lord, had protected her ever since they were little and promised that when they grew up, he would marry her in style. She waited and waited. The peach tree in the courtyard blossomed and withered again and again, but every time, he would say, “Next year, when the peach blossoms bloom.” Another spring came, and new buds appeared on the peach branches. In the past, she would have happily asked him, “Brother A Xing, when are we getting married?” This time, she didn’t want to ask. She had heard what he said to someone else: “If I really marry an idiot, how will I ever show my face in public? In a couple of years, once I’ve married my proper wife, I can take her as a concubine. That’ll be good enough for her.” Before her mother died, she had said that becoming someone’s concubine was the most shameful thing in the world. Fidgeting nervously, A Rui knocked on the door of the neighboring residence. The youngest powerful official in the Great Liang lived there, though he was always sickly and frail. When he saw her before, he had said, “If only I had a considerate little sister like you. Maybe then I’d be stronger.” Once, after she’d been mistreated, he had even asked if she wanted to go home with him. If A Rui became his sworn sister, she still wouldn’t be able to leave the marquis’s estate. So she wanted to ask whether he might be willing to take a stuttering wife. She didn’t talk much, didn’t eat much, and thought she’d probably be good at looking after the sick. - Historical fantasy, everyday-life story. - She’s not stupid, just a naive and honest person. - The male lead pretends to be sickly but is actually cunning: a scheming man’s 108-step plan to woo his wife. Theme: Actions speak louder than words