A Woman's World: Xia Yi's Faint Summer

Gu Xia was the only person in the village who had studied. Now in her early twenties, she was still unmarried. When she was about ten, her family had been fairly well-off, and she was a bright, good-looking child. Her mother had turned away matchmakers, saying she needed to continue her studies. After she passed the county-level imperial examination, her marriage still wasn't arranged. Then her mother fell ill and died, and her father, grief-stricken, soon followed her. Gu Xia observed mourning for her parents, which delayed her marriage even further.

For the past three years, Gu Xia had studied diligently. From time to time, she dried medicinal herbs and asked villagers to take them to the pharmacy in town, earning just enough to get by as she waited for the mourning period to end so she could take the imperial examinations.

With no elders to arrange her marriage, it was put off even longer. Then one day, while gathering herbs on the mountain, she heard someone calling for help and rescued a young man from a group of villains.

The young man was dressed in fine clothes and looked deathly pale. He lay in her arms, crying uncontrollably. She finally managed to escort the young master home, but before long a matchmaker showed up. Her insinuations amounted to accusing Gu Xia of having ruined the young master's virtue.

Threatened with being barred from taking the imperial examinations, Gu Xia resented the young master for failing to speak up for the person who had saved him and instead turning the blame on her. Even more, she hated herself for sticking her nose where it didn't belong. Now she had to pay with her whole life.

But after marrying the young master, she realized he wasn't so bad after all. It turned out he'd been framed too...

Theme: Be bold and forge ahead in both your studies and love