Snow on the Branches

[Recommending my next novel: After the Young Lady Fails to Win His Heart] [Main story complete, mwah!] ---- Novel blurb ---- When Jiang Ciying was six, a trafficker sold her to the Xie family, where she became the personal maid assigned to the second madam's daughter. When the young lady suddenly died of an illness at fourteen, the second madam, devastated and sick with grief, mistook Jiang Ciying for her daughter. A fake young lady joined the ranks of the noble household. At the head of the Xie family’s command, Jiang Ciying was allowed to attend school alongside the Xie children and study poetry and literature. Aside from Madam Xie, the family treated her with cool indifference. Even with her awkward position in the household, she was still far better off than when she had been a servant. That is, if Jiang Ciying hadn't foolishly fallen in love with Xie Huaijin, the Xie family's eldest legitimate son. An accident exposed the young girl's feelings written on a poetry card. As Madam Xie lay gravely ill, she used the threat of her own death to force an engagement between Jiang Ciying and Xie Huaijin. And so the refined, noble, and promising top candidate in the palace examination became her husband. After marriage, the two treated each other with respect. Jiang Ciying couldn't find a single fault in Xie Huaijin, yet she couldn't feel the slightest sign that he cared for her. One day, watching Xie Huaijin laughing and chatting with Miss Su from afar, she remembered the rumors that had circulated in the capital all these years. Whenever people passed her with scornful looks, they always said that Xie Huaijin and Su Xuerou were a match made in heaven. And she was the villain who had broken them up, forcing her way between them under the guise of filial duty. She didn't want to be the villain anymore. The next day, she left a divorce agreement and went to Jiangnan, the place the young lady had mentioned in her letter. * Xie Huaijin was the eldest legitimate son of a family with a century of history: refined, noble, and aloof, a flawless jade in every way, except for a slight blemish in his marriage. Others told him time and again that his stepmother had passed away, so this absurd marriage could be annulled. He would merely give them an indifferent glance. When a friend asked in astonishment whether he had truly fallen for that servant, he replied coolly, "It's only a marriage. My parents arranged it, and the matchmaker formalized it." Until he saw the divorce agreement on the table. His friend picked it up with a laugh and tapped it. "At least she knows what's good for her." But he failed to notice Xie Huaijin behind him, staring fixedly at the agreement, his knuckles pale, his whole body radiating a chill like snow falling from a branch. Later, the eldest young master of the Xie family, renowned for his self-restraint and impeccable conduct, caught his wife as she fled to Jiangnan. In the cramped room, dimly lit, he slowly clasped his wife's trembling hand. His voice was cool and calm. "Madam, it's time to come home." 1. Xie is a deranged creep (dancing wildly.jpg), a ghostly, possessive sort (trying to gesture it out). Please only dive in if you can handle that, everyone! I promise the story will be worth it! 2. One-on-one romance, happy ending, alternate universe. Please don't nitpick the historical details; everything serves the story~ 3. Weibo: A Little Sweet Kite~ Come say hi, everyone! [Please follow my upcoming novel,