After the Princess Consort Chose to Elope

Ruan Puxin falls head over heels for a poor scholar whose health is failing, loving him with all her heart and even defying her own mother for his sake.

But only a few months after they elope, the faithless man climbs the social ladder by courting someone else. A wealthy merchant's daughter, dripping with pearls and jade, arrives with a hundred taels of gold to "ask" Ruan Puxin to give up Duan Lang.

Heartbroken, the young woman gives her a scornful smile, then walks alone into the pouring rain.

Three years later, the merchant's family is fortunate enough to attend a garden party hosted by Commandery Princess Muyuan.

Amid the clinking cups and lively conversation, the merchant's daughter is stunned to discover that the sole daughter of Princess Guang'an, who holds power over the entire court, is none other than the wretched young woman from years ago.

She passes without so much as a glance, followed by a young gentleman. He has a similar refined and elegant air, even a beauty mark beneath his eye, but he possesses a noble bearing and pride unlike the man who came before.

In a flash, the merchant's daughter remembers the sickly young man who used to cough up blood saying, "Please help me send her back to Qingyun."

Now she climbs the steps to the clouds, while you lie beneath the earth, your bones buried in the mud.

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Gao Yuanxiu hurries to the capital to sit the imperial examinations. Caught in a heavy rainstorm, he gives his only umbrella to a delicate young woman.

Later, when he is implicated in an examination fraud case, a benefactor comes to his rescue. Not only does he escape unscathed, he also passes the exams at the top of his class and gets to see the world in all its splendor.

An old paper umbrella is delivered to his lodgings.

Only then does he learn who his kindhearted benefactor is.

On the rain-soaked night when Ruan Puxin was at her most wretched, he held an umbrella over her. In return, she set him on the path to success and helped him leap through the Dragon Gate.

Even if he was only a tool for her to use against her mother, even if he knew she was looking at him and thinking of someone else because of the small mole beneath his eye, he was willing to accept it all.

If I could win a single smile from you, what would it matter if I bent my knees for you?

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Shen Fanyu, heir to the deposed Crown Prince, is shunned because of his awkward status. Only Princess Guang'an takes him in and raises him, remembering their old ties.

He grows up alongside Ruan Puxin, watching helplessly as she falls deeper into the delusions of love. The radiant little princess he has cherished curls up in a corner, silently weeping.

But she refuses to take the hand he holds out to her. Instead, she carries that tattered umbrella through the curtain of rain.

To seek justice for poor scholars who have been wronged, she stands up to her powerful mother.

She is kind, stubborn, and gives everyone her whole heart.

Why, then, will she never spare him a glance?

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1. The heroine grows over time and meets different people at different stages. Each stage has a one-on-one romance, and all three male leads are devoted to her in body and soul.

2. The final male lead is Shen Fanyu. The heroine's mother is the emperor's sworn sister, so the leads are not related in any way.

3. Kindness is one of the heroine's defining traits.

4. This story includes several melodramatic tropes, such as falling for an enemy's daughter, substitute romance, and a dark, obsessive younger man.

Theme: Do not commit even a small evil just because it seems insignificant.