Caring for the Blind Little Golden Branch

Ning Lian was the legitimate daughter of a marquis's household, yet she was blind, disliked by everyone around her, and shy and timid by nature.

Just then, the Emperor of Great Zhou decided to choose a beautiful daughter of an official's family to marry the ruler of the Northwest. Ning Lian became the sacrificial offering in this political marriage.

Everyone knew that the Northwest ruler was a young man with a capricious temperament, whose moods changed without warning. He did whatever he pleased and was exceptionally cruel.

For Ning Lian, this marriage was less a political alliance than a death sentence.

Sure enough, on the very first day after Ning Lian arrived, she was left alone in her bridal chamber, neglected and mistreated. Before long, she took her own life.

*

Ji Yanli had become the newly risen ruler of the Northwest at a young age. She paid little attention to this so-called wife who had come from the Central Plains, assuming she was a scheming woman, so she never set foot in her courtyard.

Who could have guessed that before long, she would hear that her wife had hanged herself?

That was the first time Ji Yanli had ever seen a girl from the Central Plains.

She was delicate and frail, tiny in every way, with a frightening gash on her wrist.

Her misty, supposedly blind eyes were half closed as she looked at her.

*

Ning Lian never thought anyone would bring her back from the dead. The person who saved her seemed to be the very wife who disliked her.

Ning Lian assumed she was just a little toy to her, something she would toss away once she got bored, so she did not give it much thought.

But Ji Yanli not only made sure she had enough to eat and warm clothes, and took her horseback riding and archery, she even set out to cure her blindness.

Ning Lian was at a loss.

*

In the third year of their marriage, Ji Yanli suddenly asked to pay a visit to Great Zhou.

In the palace hall, everyone saw the ruler of the Northwest leading a plump, elegant little beauty by the hand. Wasn't this Ning Lian, who had supposedly taken her own life long ago because she was neglected?

But they also saw Ji Yanli, usually arrogant and short-tempered, serving Ning Lian food, wiping her mouth, and even peeling grapes for her and placing them in her mouth.

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