Spring in the Branches

“And so I traveled ten thousand miles, journeying toward a moon of breathtaking beauty.”

A cunning young heir who pretends to be a fool × a commandery princess who clawed her way back from the depths of hell to take revenge

They had known each other for ten years and shared a bond between sovereign and subject. Jiang Heng, the brilliant female general of Huai, had won so many honors that she overshadowed the emperor. She died by the cold sword driven into her back by the young emperor she had once helped to the throne.

When Jiang Heng was seven, her father died on the battlefield and her mother disappeared without a trace. The Jiang family had served the country with absolute loyalty, leaving her as its sole surviving descendant.

At her most desperate, she met the renowned Crown Prince Fengyu. He wiped the tears from her face with a clean handkerchief and said, “From today on, I am your family.”

So she devoted all her strength and ingenuity to helping him become emperor.

Below the Golden Throne, there were thirty-nine steps. She knelt and kowtowed her way up them, begging him to spare the thirty thousand soldiers of the Jiang family. They had lost the battle, but they didn't deserve to die.

On the Golden Throne, the young emperor stood in his dragon robe, expressionless.

The boy who had once treated her tenderly had become the Son of Heaven. When an emperor is enraged, millions may fall. Their former affection no longer mattered.

In a single night, ten thousand people were left as blood and bone.

His beloved consort appeared and told her the truth with a smile.

“It was your divine emperor who sold you to the enemy, just to get rid of you.”

He had plotted all of this, and so all thirty thousand soldiers of the Jiang family were buried with her.

The Fu family, the house of the Marquis of Dingyuan in the Sheng Kingdom, had three daughters. The eldest, Chun Zhi, was stunningly beautiful and held the title of Commandery Princess Chunyang. She was the only commandery princess in the whole capital born to a marquis's family.

She was of noble birth, the daughter of the late first wife of the Marquis of Dingyuan.

But in everyone's eyes, she was a hopeless fool, because she was uneducated and obsessed with Pei Linlang, the elegant second son of the prime minister's legitimate wife.

One day, the notorious Commandery Princess Chunyang fell from a tree and injured her head.

When she opened her eyes again, someone else had taken over her body. That person was Jiang Heng, the General Hengyue, once feared by all three kingdoms.

She had once roamed the desert and the northern frontier, drinking and feasting, a free-spirited eagle.

Now she was trapped in the household, at the heart of a whirlpool of power. Every step required a scheme, and she was a caged bird behind gilded bars.

Jiang Heng was gone. From now on, she was Fu Chun Zhi, Commandery Princess Chunyang. To take her revenge, she would have to rise to the very top.

Those she trusted had betrayed her, and those she cherished had died for her. But someone would always come for her and gather her into his arms.

The capital's most honored and most useless young heir had a truly gorgeous face, and he held out his hand to her.

“Little Wooden Head, spring has arrived. Why haven't you sprouted yet?”

Fu Chun Zhi knew that, though he seemed lazy and unreliable, he had already given her everything he considered precious.

In truth, he lived amid bloody storms. The many flaws others saw in him were probably all just ways to stay alive.

Notes:

1. SC, one-on-one romance, both leads are emotionally and physically devoted to each other.

2. In her previous life, the heroine never loved the emperor. She was only loyal to him. The only one she loved was Little Persimmon.

2. A classic rebirth trope. It's a long story, and the romance develops slowly. My writing isn't great, either, so if you prefer fast-paced romance, feel free to skip it.

3. Older man-younger woman romance. The man will definitely pursue the woman, though I think she may dote on him instead. (Not really.)

Theme: A hardworking heroine focused on her career.