Climbing the Golden Branch

The main story is complete. I'll write the extras later. Please add my upcoming story, Climbing to Glory, to your reading list. From commoner to the highest minister, Jiang Yuanbai walks on eggshells, ever restrained and patient. He allows no flaw to appear and destroy the life he has built, step by careful step. He never imagined that one day, Chen Huairou would become that unexpected variable. The woman who once clung to him now turns around and acts intimate with someone else. Jiang Yuanbai is so consumed with anguish that he falls ill overnight. What is the greatest regret in the world? When she was earnest, you found her tiresome. When she left, you started acting pathetic. Once, Chen Huairou was warm and attentive toward him, only to receive his icy reply: "Please stop insulting me." She wasted her best years on a worthless man. If she ever went back to him, she'd be a fool. Jiang Yuanbai keeps running into her everywhere. "Arou, do you still want me?" Chen Huairou holds up her umbrella with her delicate hand, its surface gleaming coldly, and looks down at Jiang Yuanbai, drenched in the rain. "No. Get lost!" The wind and rain howl, and cold seeps through him. Jiang Yuanbai sways. Chen Huairou doesn't even look back as she steps through the doorway and snaps, "If you're going to stand there, stand farther away. Don't block my front door." Please add my upcoming story, Climbing to Glory, to your reading list. Zhao Ronghua has never lived for herself. Before the city fell, she was the Zhao family's greatest hope. She appeared to live in luxury, but her eldest uncle's promotion and her second uncle's business success, along with the family's connections and wealth, all depended on Zhao Ronghua's peerless beauty. Her grandmother treated her like a commodity, carefully arranging advantageous matches and struggling to keep the declining Zhao family afloat. Everyone thought Zhao Ronghua ought to sacrifice everything for the Zhao family. Even she understood this and never objected. But after the city fell, the Zhao family turned against her and personally sent her to the sacrificial altar. It was only because the new emperor's brother had died beneath Zhao Ronghua's skirts. The new emperor was ruthless. He would surely kill Zhao Ronghua, drink her blood, and devour her flesh. After falling into misfortune, Zhao Ronghua watched the Zhao family members avoid her as if she were something foul, and her heart turned cold. Her usually smiling cousin publicly tore the clothes Zhao Ronghua had given her into shreds in disgust. Her kind-looking eldest uncle spoke harshly, wishing he could issue a public statement disowning her. Even her dignified, composed grandmother put on a stern face and told her to stay away from the Zhao family! Zhao Ronghua finally saw the truth and clenched her fists. She swore: Everyone who took from her would give it all back! This time, she would live for herself. Later, she not only lived for herself, but became someone the whole world envied. Even the new emperor, who once looked down on her, tugged at her sleeve and pleaded in a humble voice: "Don't go! I'll give you the whole world!" Theme: Women should strive to be strong.