Plucking Green Branches

[Ongoing] My Cousin Really Is Sick is now available. Thank you to all my wonderful readers who support the official release!

Blurb:

#ChildhoodSweethearts#RebornAndWinningHerBack#

Zhu Wuyan and Su Qingwu grew up together.

He loved her for twelve years, but Su Qingwu had never given him a second glance.

Zhu Wuyan thought she would follow the expected path, obey her elders, and marry a refined gentleman from a family of equal standing. But when she was sixteen, she threw propriety to the wind for a poor scholar, causing a scandal throughout the city.

She married another man. He left the capital in a fit of anger, and returned years later covered in military glory, only to learn that she had already died in the seclusion of her mansion.

Zhu Wuyan opened his eyes and found himself back at seventeen, just as Su Qingwu was beginning to fall in love.

This time, he would be the one she chose.

He would make her heart stir for him, and make them love each other just as deeply.

*

A servant said the young general Zhu of the neighboring residence had fallen into the water by accident and nearly lost his life.

The two families were close, so Su Qingwu's mother took her to visit him. On the way, she warned Su Qingwu not to bicker with Zhu Wuyan.

Su Qingwu agreed perfunctorily.

Unexpectedly, the childhood friend who had always been at odds with her was lying pale-faced in bed. As soon as he saw her, his eyes turned red.

Su Qingwu's expression flickered, and she felt ill at ease.

Zhu Wuyan gazed at her for a long moment, then spoke hoarsely. "Awu, it hurts."

*

Su Qingwu thought Zhu Wuyan had been bewitched. After falling into the water, he had become a completely different person.

He no longer argued with her and gave in to her at every turn.

She loved candied chestnuts but hated peeling them. Instead of teasing her for being fussy, he peeled them for her one by one.

When she forgot her umbrella on a rainy day, he brought it to her. Seeing her long skirt, he worried she might get it muddy, so he bent down and carried her on his back.

At a banquet, when a drunken lecher approached her, he appeared at once to shield her, taught the man a harsh lesson, then turned back to tell her not to be afraid.

Su Qingwu was astonished and suspicious, and finally couldn't hold back from asking him about it.

Zhu Wuyan leaned against the covered walkway, his lacquer-black eyes unfathomable, with an emotion in them she couldn't understand.

"Su Qingwu," he said, looking at her.

"Marry me." His tone left no room for refusal.

Words he hadn't managed to say in his previous life, he finally spoke to her himself this time.

Reader's guide:

1. A sweet romance between the leads. The former husband gets his comeuppance.

2. The heroine has no memories of her previous life.

3. Happy ending.

Blurb first posted: 2023/5/22, screenshot saved.

My Cousin Really Is Sick is ongoing!

#TheRationalOneLosesControl

#TheClearheadedOneFallsIntoDesire

A distant cousin came to stay at the Duke of Rong's residence.

It was said that on her very first day in the capital, a gust of wind blew the young lady over at the gate of the Duke of Rong's residence. She fell from her carriage and was injured.

From then on, everyone knew the new cousin was a frail, sickly girl.

Cui Yun, heir to the Duke of Rong, was upright, refined, cool, and self-possessed. He had always held "master yourself and return to propriety" as a guiding principle.

But once his frail cousin moved into the residence, the young master Cui stepped down from his lofty perch, losing his composure and bending his back for her, one step at a time.

At first, he pitied her frailty and would only ask with his hands behind his back, "Cousin, are you feeling better?"

Yu Zheng bit her lip until it bled, gazed at him with tear-filled eyes, and whispered, "Cousin, it hurts."

Later, he held her in his arms and soothed her gently. "Zhengzheng, don't be afraid. I'm here. No one can bully you."

Yu Zheng nestled against him and smiled sweetly. "As long as you're here, there's nothing I'm afraid of."

*

Cui Yun had always thought he was the sky and earth of his cousin's world, her sole support in her weakness.

Until one day, he saw her cut out someone's tongue with his own eyes. She smiled sweetly as she said, "I warned you. If I catch you badmouthing Cousin again, I'll kill you and use you for fertilizer in Cousin's flowerbeds."

After that, the flowers in the duke's gardens bloomed more vividly than ever.

And Cui Yun could never look at her the same way again.

*

Cui Yun thought everything was finally back to normal. On that rainy night when they parted, she had climbed over a wall into another man's arms and never once looked back.

Cui Yun thought she was just a mistake, and all he had to do was correct it.

But her soft "Cousin" haunted his dreams every night, and every smile and frown of hers poisoned him like a drug.

*

When he saw her again, Yu Zheng smiled brightly and no longer called Cui Yun Cousin.

Her voice was soft and gentle, her smile carefree. "Young Master Cui."

With those few words, all of Cui Yun's cool dignity shattered.

He caught her by the wrist, his bloodshot eyes surging with madness and despair he had suppressed for so long. "Cousin..."

"Forgotten, Young Master Cui?" Her voice was as sharp as a thin blade. "I'm not your cousin. I'm just a... cruel liar."

Holding her wrist bone, Cui Yun's fingers trembled. His voice was hoarse beyond measure. "Then... deceive me one more time."

Blurb first posted: 2023/11/14, saved.

Theme: Treasure the person in front of you.