Cherishing My Childhood Friend

The Xu family had a daughter named Zhaozhao, so beautiful she could make the moon hide its face and flowers blush, yet spoiled and fussy by nature. Even toward the fiancé chosen for her in childhood, she would lift her chin and mock him for being less than handsome. All he had was a talent for martial arts; he was a boor who knew nothing of romance. The fiancé she had mocked left for the frontier without a word to fight the enemy. By the time he returned, he had earned a string of military honors and become a great general, second only to The Outcast. Before long, news broke that Xu Zhaozhao, the Xu family's legitimate daughter, was a fake. The real Miss Xu was someone else entirely. The Xu family had raised Zhaozhao in luxury for seventeen years, but overnight she went from the capital's most famous beauty to a discarded daughter accused of usurping another's place. She had once been so pampered that her fingers were soft, fair, and slender. Even one fewer layer of bedding on her mattress would leave red marks all over her body. But after her true origins were revealed, she fell from the life of a pampered young lady from a noble family into the dust, losing everything. The city's wastrels were finally free of restraint. They began betting a few taels of silver that they could take her as a concubine. "Xu Zhaozhao used to think she was above everyone. I want to see how long she can keep her pride once she falls into my hands." "Such a beauty. At last, I can have a taste." The very next day, the wastrels who had said those things had their legs broken and were thrown out of their homes. Everyone saw General Qin, now the darling of noble young ladies, protect Xu Zhaozhao, the Xu family's castoff, as he petitioned the emperor for an imperial decree. "Your servant wishes to take Zhaozhao as his wife." Theme: After weathering countless trials, still hold fast to your original resolve.