A Spring Robe, Damp with Rain

--Synopsis--

Several years ago, before the eldest daughter of the Xia family left the capital to go to war, she once rescued a young man who had fallen into the Qinhuai River.

It was a clear, crisp autumn day. The young man, his spring clothes soaked through, curled obediently in her arms, so soft and sweet that he made her heart flutter. But Xia Qing was about to lead troops into battle, and she simply couldn't bring herself to ask to take him home as her husband. So the stirrings of her young heart scattered like maple leaves in the wind.

Years later, Xia Qing returned to the capital at the head of her troops. The first thing she did was haul that obedient young man onto her horse. She didn't even bother going to the palace, thinking only of taking him home and hiding him away.

·

Chu Jin grew up in a brothel. He appeared cool and dazzling, cherished by everyone, but in truth he was insecure, sensitive, sharp-tongued, and despicable. Two things changed him the most as he grew up. The first was falling into the water by accident as a boy and falling in love at first sight with the woman who rescued him. The second was that, just as their love was at its height, his beloved left the capital with her army without a word, and they never saw each other again.

He agonized over it for five years. Just as he was about to resign himself to his fate and let his life come to an end, the woman who had abandoned him to go to war returned. Not only that, she snatched him away in front of all of Jinling and rode off with him, intending to hide her beauty away.

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Extra scene:

On the day she returned to the capital, Xia Qing publicly abducted Chu Jin, the madam of the Qinhuai House, and took him back to the old Xia family residence. The people of Jinling gossiped about it, all assuming Xia Qing had been bewitched by the madam's sweet, gentle ways.

But who could have guessed that this supposedly sweet and gentle madam was a little darling with two faces? With Xia Qing, he was naturally sweet and tender. But if anyone dared to cross him, he'd give them such a dressing-down they'd be left in a sorry state.

Someone once asked Xia Qing what she thought of this.

Xia Qing picked at her ear, looking surprised. "No way. Does someone really think I was blinded by beauty?"

"Clearly, I just saw someone attractive and wanted him."

What are thousands of miles of land and rivers compared to him in his thin spring clothes? That was the springlike gleam of his eyes that she saw once in her youth, and the ripples that would stir in her heart for the rest of her life.

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Reader's guide:

1. GB story, GB story, GB story.

2. Please don't offer writing advice.

3. At its heart, this is a love story between two people, regardless of gender. The secondary couple is actually a conventional pairing, but you're free to imagine other orientations too, as long as you don't attack anyone. Feel free to discuss in the comments. Thanks.

Theme: You don't have to become a rose. If you want, a wildflower by the roadside is just as lovely.