The Cousin Keeps Pretending to Be Delicate

[Blurb]

Her father was a distinguished general with many military achievements, her mother was a princess granted her title by the late emperor, and the current emperor was a distant cousin on her mother's side. With a prominent family and loving parents, Mu Yaoning grew up cherished by her father and brother.

The only flaw in an otherwise perfect life was that, before she was even born, her parents had promised her in marriage to Jiang Yuncen, heir to the Marquis of Jinnan. Unfortunately, the young heir was a dull, frail, and quiet boy who wasn't very likable, so Mu Yaoning decided to tease him.

She persuaded her twin brother to swap identities with her, then used every game of chuiwan to give the foolish boy a thorough thrashing. Her plan worked: whenever he saw her, he ran away.

Before the foolish young heir could call off the engagement himself, everything changed overnight, and the Yaoning siblings became orphans. The once-prosperous capital became a den of wolves and tigers, and the people who used to fawn over them began sucking up to those in power and looking down on the fallen.

So the Mu siblings returned to their hometown in the middle of the night, thinking they would never again return to this place of sorrow.

Unexpectedly, an imperial decree summoned the Mu siblings back to the capital, and someone brought up the betrothal once more.

Having heard that Jiang Yuncen detested fragile, meek women, Mu Yaoning decided to hide her true nature and put on a convincing act of affected delicacy. Surely this time Jiang Yuncen would call off the engagement.

*

As the young marquis of Jinnan, Jiang Yuncen had always had everything go his way, except when it came to marriage.

The reason was that he had a cousin betrothed to him since birth. Not only was she delicate and frail, she was also very mild-mannered.

Whenever they played chuiwan as children, his cousin would always hold him back, causing him to get beaten by her savage brother. So Jiang Yuncen had hated frail girls like Yaoning from a young age.

Later, the Mu family fell from power overnight, leaving only the siblings, Mu Yaoning and her brother. His mother had once invited them to stay at the marquis's estate, but Yaoning's unruly brother refused. From then on, the siblings vanished without a trace.

Jiang Yuncen thought the marriage was off for good, until his cousin came knocking from the countryside in the year he turned twenty.

After all these years, his cousin was even more delicate than before. Whenever they happened to meet on the road, she would gaze at him with those peach-blossom eyes, her eyes full of affection, and softly call him, "Brother Cen."

This made Jiang Yuncen dislike Mu Yaoning even more. He even declared in front of everyone at the marquis's estate that he would never marry her in this lifetime.

Unfortunately, Mu Yaoning heard every word. She covered her face and ran out crying.

Jiang Yuncen's mother kicked him out to look for her. He expected to find a young woman crying her eyes out and worried about how to comfort her and make his cousin give up on him. Instead, he saw Mu Yaoning topple the sweet osmanthus tree he'd planted ten years ago with a single palm strike.

Jiang Yuncen: ...

He couldn't help shivering. Suddenly, the back of his neck felt cold.

Theme: What you see isn't always the truth.