Breaking a Cold Branch in the Spring Courtyard

[Upcoming: Nine Palaces, please add it to your favorites!] The moment Jiang Zhaowei was reborn, she heard a miserable sob. "Sister, Young Master Ying and I are in love. Will you give us your blessing?" She looked carefully at the two people kneeling before her. One was her cousin, and the other... was her husband in her previous life. Zhaowei curled her lips in a mocking smile. So her husband's family hadn't hated her in her previous life because she was unvirtuous or unkind. She had died young, consumed by sorrow, for another reason. This wretched pair had been carrying on behind her back all along. Her eyes curved like a clear moon as she nodded, to their astonishment. From then on, she was carried into the imperial palace in a small sedan chair, never once looking back. - A year after she entered the palace, Zhaowei had vanished without a trace. Everyone in the Jiang family thought she was dead. But on the day they entered the palace to pay their respects, they recognized the woman seated above them, radiant as the moon. Her whole bearing was refined and pampered, a faint glow even at her fingertips, so dazzling that none dared look directly at her. The palace attendants called her Her Highness the Noble Consort. The emperor clearly doted on his Noble Consort, holding her tightly in his arms with not a sliver of space between them. Zhaowei wasn't very pleased about being held so close. In full view of everyone, she complained softly, "Don't hold me so tight. I'm not cold." Her soft voice seemed dipped in honey. And when the man who held the throne was rebuked, he showed not the slightest anger. His deep, mellow voice was unmistakably amused. "I know. You're not cold. I'm afraid you'll get cold." A sweet, cool beauty x an emperor who was heartless at first, then devoted as a loyal puppy One-on-one romance, both leads' first relationship *The heroine is first made a consort, then an empress. She will become empress later. *Title taken from Tang poet Shi Jianwu's "Poem of the Imperial Palace" *Upcoming novel "A Hairpin for My Chang'an Flower" is in my author page. Everyone knows that Awu's cousin is a romantic young scholar. They say he's exceptionally handsome and carefree as the wind. They say he loves writing popular fiction and drawing erotic art, and that his works are always snapped up at the study. They say he placed third in the palace examinations, yet refused to marry an imperial princess or noble lady: "I love only my cousin Awu. I will love no other for the rest of my life, and stay by her side until our hair turns white." Everyone envies her wonderful match, but Awu knows the truth: what fated match? What perfect man? That cousin from afar is her secret identity! * Xie Yun, heir to the Prince of Huai'an, was born refined and reserved, with eyes for no one. Countless people bow before him. His nobility is beyond compare. The one thing he can never have in this life is an unknown woman. Her dark hair piled like clouds, her slender waist, cheeks like ripe peaches, and eyes glistening with dew. Her red lips part timidly. She makes people want to cherish and protect her. Yet she has already become another man's wife. Awu visits Xie Yun in his dreams every night. In them, she wears the robes of a titled lady, holding the arm of a man whose face is blurred. When Xie Yun catches her fair, slender wrist, her expression suddenly turns cool and distant. She softly says, "Your Highness, please behave with propriety." Whenever he thinks of it, jealousy drives him nearly mad, and he tosses and turns all night. He can't have her, yet he insists on trying. He is willing to cast aside his ridiculous pride, pluck a wild rose from another man's garden, and become her secret lover, hidden from the world. All for the occasional glance of the woman who has captured his heart. He drinks himself into a stupor on quiet nights, deceiving himself over and over: She has feelings for me. She must care about me, at least a little. Until one day, he finally learns that the "husband" is Awu herself. Xie Yun goes mad. * A heroine who plays with men's hearts + X + a hero who becomes the other man for love (as he sees it) * A little cool, aloof, and restrained character completely breaking down and going mad Another upcoming historical transmigration novel, "The Han Dynasty's Imperial Physician": What's it like to transmigrate and become Emperor Wu of Han's family doctor? Jiang Lingyue: A permanent position, an apartment provided by the employer, a Chang'an residence permit, and excellent benefits. Great work environment, a boss who doesn't nag me to get married, and handsome men and beautiful women to admire up close every day. This is my dream job! Is there anything you dislike about this job? Jiang Lingyue: Besides treating illnesses, I have to mediate family disputes for my boss. Between the first wife and the concubine, the eldest son and the younger son, the great general and the cavalry general, and so on... What keeps you going in this profession? Jiang Lingyue: They pay me way too much... * An ordinary doctor treats illness; a great doctor treats the nation. Jiang Lingyue's origins are unknown. At sixteen, her peerless medical skills saved the emperor at Dinghu. From treating colds and dispelling evil influences to stitching flesh and bone and mending broken bones, countless miraculous techniques and life-saving cures came from her hands. She saved the common people from the depths of suffering and repelled foreign threats from a thousand miles away. Yet alongside her astonishing medical skills, spicy rumors about her spread far and wide. They say Chen A'jiao spent a fortune just to commission a poem from her. They say Zhuo Wenjun was willing to flee her family and sell wine at a tavern for her sake. They say Wei Qing and his wife, Princess Pingyang, both considered her a confidante and sat up late talking with her. They even say Sima Qian, the Grand Historian, gave her a biography of her own, titled "The Biographies of Shamans and Physicians." Jiang Lingyue: ??? Have you got something wrong? I'm just an ordinary, dedicated family doctor! Theme: Improve yourself and bring harmony to your family.