A Spring Banner in Her Hair

*[Amnesiac, slow-witted, honest woman x hypocritical, scheming fox of a man]

Marriage first, love later | Sweet couple | He falls first | Everyday life

Lian Zhen was an orphan. At six, she became a nobleman's personal guard in exchange for a steamed bun. At eleven, she took up a blade and went to war for him. Along the way, she had nearly lost everything, almost forgetting that she was a person too.

Only one battle remained before her lord's great ambition would be fulfilled. After taking the last head, Lian Zhen stood still on the battlefield and looked up at the sky. The bright daylight was utterly spotless. Suddenly dazed, she surveyed the mountains of corpses and rivers of blood, and found she could no longer raise her blade.

She sighed: Perhaps this is retribution.

In the winter of Jingming Year Eleven, the Great Ye's first female general, Lian Zhen, fell in battle on the northern frontier and vanished without a trace. In the spring of Year Twelve, a poor young scholar named Xue Jisheng in a Jiangnan water town suddenly found himself with a respectable wife, causing a stir throughout the village.

After closing the door, Xue Jisheng came home, put down his farming tools, and smiled.

"You say you're my wife?"

Lian Zhen fixed her eyes on the handsome man's face. At his question, she stared blankly, then nodded in confusion.

Xue Jisheng narrowed his eyes. ...He'd only gone out once. How had he suddenly acquired a wife?

-

Xue Jisheng's parents had both died. He passed the county-level civil service exam at twelve and set up his own household. With red lips and pearly teeth, he was as pretty as a girl, but a handsome face couldn't fill your stomach. Fortunately, Prince Jin had taken the throne, and the court was short of talented men. Xue Jisheng had already made plans to return to the civil service exams and pursue his ambitions.

He hadn't expected an unexpected visitor to turn up the very day after he'd packed his bags for the capital.

Xue Jisheng: ...

Life went on. With another mouth to feed, his plans to go to the capital had to be put on hold. Lian Zhen couldn't do anything, so Xue Jisheng sold New Year couplets in the morning, copied books for people at noon, and secretly embroidered handkerchiefs at night. They still had to stretch every penny, but little by little, he became less miserly. And he found himself liking the look of his wife more and more...

Their life gradually improved, and soon the New Year arrived. The two pinned the first spring streamer of the year into their hair, blushing as they tumbled into bed together. But when they woke the next morning, their formerly slow-witted, honest wife seemed like a different person. She reached up and grabbed his neck.

"Who are you?"

Xue Jisheng froze, then arched his brows with a smile. "Forgot again, A Zhen? I'm your husband."

Lian Zhen: ...She'd merely had a long dream. Why had she inexplicably gained a husband?

-

Looking back on the first half of their lives, Lian Zhen and Xue Jisheng smiled at each other, neither feeling the least regret.

They entered public service hand in hand, rose to the imperial palace, and stood by each other through it all.

They never forgot where they came from.

[Xue Jisheng] #My wife doesn't remember the night we consummated our marriage? Absolutely not! #Her superior has had his eye on her for ages? Just you wait!

[Lian Zhen] #My husband usually shares a bedcover with me, so why is he sleeping naked in my bed today? #Oh no, I think I mistook someone else for my husband!

[Reader's Guide]

1. The focus is everyday life, romance, and making money, with a little progression. There are some unpleasant relatives and neighbors, but not many. Both the heroine and hero enter and later leave public service. The second and third male leads will cause trouble.

2. The heroine is merely the first female general to come to public attention in this setting. She is not an unbelievably strong, superhumanly powerful general. There are no supernatural elements. The hero is a schemer, outwardly courteous and smooth, but dark at heart. None of the characters are purely good or evil; they follow realistic human nature.

3. Written for my own enjoyment. I'm not familiar with court politics or the civil service exams, so there's little of that. There are melodramatic plot points, and both leads are passionate types.

4. Since this is an alternate Ming setting, some events, broad plot points, and characters are based on real examples. I'll mention them in the author's notes when I remember. If I don't, it's because I forgot, not because I deliberately left them out.

*

December 17, 2022

Completely revised October 1, 2025

Theme: Pin up a spring streamer and welcome spring