Brewing Wine Beneath a Sky Full of Peach Blossoms

He Yun, the legitimate son of the General's Household, and Yun Qi, the sixth young lady of the Yongchang Earl's Household, have always been sworn enemies who can't stand each other.

Yet General He and the Earl of Yongchang are close friends, and naturally visit each other's homes in private.

At five, Yun Qi could recite Tang poetry, while seven-year-old He Yun was being scolded by General He, who had him by the ear.

At ten, Yun Qi could play music on the zither, while He Yun was forced to learn martial arts and fainted at the sight of blood.

At thirteen, Yun Qi started attending a private school and happened to sit next to He Yun.

The boy was unruly at school and spent every day hoping Yun Qi would slip up.

One day, Yun Qi was goofing off, and He Yun ran to the teacher to report her. "Yun Qi didn't do the homework you assigned!"

The next day, while He Yun was sound asleep with his head on the desk, Yun Qi styled his hair into a woman's bun.

The teacher turned a blind eye at first, but eventually couldn't take it anymore and moved the two troublemakers to different seats.

When Yun Qi came of age, General He sent He Yun off to the army.

Thinking they would never meet again, Yun Qi gave He Yun a jar of honey and some pastries she had made herself.

He Yun couldn't bring himself to eat even one bite.

When He Yun returned to Bianjing with the title of Young General, he found Yun Qi surrounded by a bunch of vulgar admirers:

The young marquis took Yun Qi boating every day.

The second young master of the Duke's Household sent her pretty dresses every three days.

The Crown Prince, living in the palace, invited Yun Qi to banquets there now and then.

He Yun suddenly felt terribly sad. The thing he regretted least in his life was going to the army to toughen himself up.

He secretly swore that he would nip every one of these budding romances in the bud :)

Coming soon in the author's collection: Marrying the Chief Minister (Reborn). The blurb follows:

Yu Xuelian had lived a carefree and pleasure-loving life in the first half of her life. But just as she was about to marry, her father was condemned to death, and the Yu family, illustrious for decades, fell into ruin overnight.

Before she died, she tasted every hardship in the world. Her enemies oppressed her, and her fiancé humiliated her. At the very moment she closed her eyes, she finally felt relieved.

I hope there is no next life.

But Heaven still took pity on her.

Yu Xuelian is reborn in the springtime of her youth. Her mother is still alive, and her father is still the mighty General Who Guards the Nation.

The Yu family can still be saved.

Having learned too many lessons in her previous life, Yu Xuelian abandons all the young men she had gotten involved with and shuts herself away to study military strategy. She must catch the culprit who framed the Yu family.

The enemy is hidden, while she is in the open.

Yu Xuelian decides to first find Lu Jun, the Grand Secretary who handled the case of her father's rebellion years ago.

She searches all of Chang'an, only to discover that the powerful Grand Secretary, who rules the court, is studying hard in a small mountain village.

Yu Xuelian rereads The Art of War again and again, and suddenly comes up with a plan.

-

Huawu Village has been unusually lively lately. The unlucky scholar of the Lu family, Lu Jun, is going to marry into a rich family.

Lu Jun himself finds it baffling and utterly absurd.

That strange, not particularly bright-looking rich young lady brings him books and food every day, and always says something troubling when she leaves:

"Lu Jun, study hard and become a good official one day. You must be the kind of official who never condemns an innocent person. I believe you can pass the palace exam and become the top scholar."

"Lu Jun, it's cold today. Don't go wash dishes at the inn. My, my father's calligraphy brush is broken. I'll give you ten taels of silver. Could you fix it for me?"

"Lu Jun, Lu Jun..."

Yu Xuelian thinks she has been helping Lu Jun diligently, but never expected that after he passes the palace exam as the top scholar, and rises through the ranks just as he did in her previous life to become Grand Secretary...

The betrothal gifts fill the main hall of the Yu residence.

Lu Jun proposes to her like this: "Miss Yu showed me the kindness of recognizing my talent. I have no way to repay you, so I can only offer myself to you."

In his barren nights, where he could see no light, Yu Xuelian let him taste sweetness.

Lu Jun always warned himself: A poor scholar must not hope for too much, and must not be greedy.

But gazing at his beautiful bride beneath the wedding candles, Lu Jun says with a self-mocking smile, "What harm is there in being a little greedy?"

Premise: May we meet year after year.