Plucking Green Branches

Announcement: This novel will be fully released on Wednesday, October 11. The chapters being converted to paid access are 26-90, so please don't purchase them again if you've already read them. Thank you for all your support. I hope you'll continue to support my new works, too.

Gu Qingwu first met Xie Qiuchi at her family's restaurant. Her elder half-sister had coaxed her into coming, asking her to escort a poor scholar back to the estate.

The son of an old acquaintance!

The young man before her wore coarse clothes, but his handsome, graceful bearing was impossible to hide. His peach-blossom eyes should have been full of charm, yet when he looked at her innocently and awkwardly, he even borrowed the few taels of silver she had on her.

What was this all about?

She thought he was her half-sister's lover. It wasn't until he gave her the wind chime he'd won at a poetry gathering that she realized she'd misunderstood.

Jincheng is renowned for its beauties, and the Gu family's two jewels, Yi Yuan and Yi Yu, are among the finest. Both are famous for their talent and beauty. Only the Gu family's Fifth Miss, Gu Qingwu, is little known, until a poetry gathering in the city sparks a public rivalry between two men for one woman, turning her into the talk of the town.

Everyone assumes she'll choose the elegant young man from a wealthy family.

The Gu family thinks so, too.

But Gu Qingwu doesn't see it that way.

Rather than spend her life trapped in other people's schemes and shadows, she'd rather make her own choice and take a chance on a different path.

Male lead's perspective:

Xie Qiuchi has never thought of himself as a good person. Born to a poor family, he entered government through the imperial examinations, but had no one to support him. To climb the ranks and stay alive, he willingly became another man's attack dog, stained his hands with blood, and was hunted down by his enemies. He died at thirty.

As he lay dying, he remembered Jincheng in his youth. Beneath the Gu family's peach tree stood a figure in blue, a lovely silhouette. From missing her at the beginning to losing her later, he had always been unwilling to let go.

Who could have imagined that when he opened his eyes, he would be reborn in the year he first arrived in Jincheng? He held the pair of mandarin duck jade pendants that served as tokens of their bond. One half had yet to be returned to the Gu family and had not fallen into anyone else's hands.

He still had a chance.

* The male lead is reborn. Their previous life ended in tragedy, but this life has a happy ending.

* They save each other in both their lives.

Coming soon:

"Beauty Reborn" (currently serializing)

In her previous life, Xie Mingshu, the legitimate eldest daughter of the Marquis of Yong'an's household, and Gu Jinyuan, the second young master of the Duke of Zhenguo's household, were a famously loving couple. Three years into their marriage, they were deeply devoted to one another, but then they abruptly divorced overnight, leaving everyone shocked and bewildered.

Gu Jinyuan remarried, and Xie Mingshu married someone else. No one expected the delicate white lotus he married to be black-hearted beneath the surface. In less than two years, the Duke of Zhenguo's splendid household was accused of treason and executed to the last, its century of glory destroyed. Meanwhile, Xie Mingshu had entrusted herself to the wrong man. Her gentlemanly husband turned into a wolf, treating his wife as less than a concubine. Though she remained chaste, he cast her aside like trash, and the Marquis of Yong'an's household gradually fell into ruin. In the end, its title was stripped away, its members were dismissed from office, and they were driven out of the capital.

Only when she was cast off did she understand what a joke those three years of devoted waiting had been, and what Gu Jinyuan had meant to her... All that was left for her was a cup of poisoned wine, presented only after his revenge had been brought to light.

She died of the poison, only for it all to seem like a dream. When Xie Mingshu awoke, she discovered that she had returned to six years earlier, to a time when she and Gu Jinyuan were still married. The wolf and the black lotus had only just returned to the capital. There was still a chance to change everything...

* Both leads are reborn, but they return to different points in time.

* Happy ending.

"Two Hearts as One" (drafting)

Two hearts in love, together day and night.

Gu Yuanrou is the legitimate daughter of a marquis's household, dignified and gentle by reputation. The first major thing she does in her life is, on the eve of her wedding, bring a group of people to block her fiance, Shen Mingyuan, heir to the Earl of Ningyuan, at the entrance to the courtyard where he keeps his mistress. In full view of the crowd, she beats him, wrecks the place, and then walks away.

The Shen family is furious and storms over, demanding to break off the engagement.

The Gu family also resents her heavy-handed behavior, and everyone demands that she apologize and back down.

But Gu Yuanrou packs her things and prepares to move to the family estate or leave the capital to lie low after the engagement is broken. She refuses to budge, infuriating the Shen family so much that they take back the betrothal gifts they had sent to the Gu family.

The alliance between the Shen and Gu families is suddenly on the brink of collapse.

When the news spreads, Princess Consort Cen of Prince Luo's household is so delighted she can hardly contain herself. She rushes over to propose a match between Gu Yuanrou and her son, Xiao Zhan.

What? They say she's jealous?

Good! That means she cares about her husband.

They say she's rough?

Even better! Her son doesn't like delicate, helpless girls.

As for the fact that the Shen and Gu families, in their anger, never actually planned to break off the engagement, Princess Consort Luo doesn't care. She'll get involved first and see what happens.

It turns out that if you swing your hoe well, there's no corner you can't pry open.

In the end, Princess Consort Luo gets the daughter-in-law she's longed for: Gu Yuanrou.

Xiao Zhan, heir to Prince Luo, was born to high status and blessed with striking looks. Unfortunately, he grew up too fast. After eight years in the army, the once elegant young nobleman was hardened into the cold-faced, spear-wielding "Lord Yama." He was also utterly clueless about romance and showed no tenderness to women. Countless young ladies in Jinling could only gaze at him and sigh, never daring to come within three feet of him.

So even as he approached twenty, he still had no marriage prospects.

Then, after half a year away putting down bandits, he returned to find his mother had prepared a "wonderful surprise" for him.

For once, his usually impassive face nearly cracked. He rubbed his forehead and sighed: He'd said the Gu family's Third Miss was wonderful, but he hadn't meant this kind of wonderful.

Later, people noticed that the heir to Prince Luo had changed.

On a spring outing beneath a peach tree, the once cold and indifferent heir personally picked a peach blossom and, smiling as he chatted, tucked it into the hair of his newlywed wife, Lady Gu. Their eyes met, tender affection shining between them.

It wasn't that he didn't understand romance. He simply hadn't had any reason to show it. He only needed to cherish one woman.

* Fictional setting, one man and one woman. A gentle, virtuous heroine who won't let her husband take concubines, paired with a cold, aloof hero who is devoted to her alone.

Theme: Hold on to the moonlight in your heart, and don't let yourself sink into darkness and confusion.