The Younger Sister and the Young General

[Noblewoman x Young General]

1.

Chen Caiyin went up the mountain for an outing with her elder half-sister, Chen Xizhao. By accident, they both fell into a pit.

Chen Caiyin lifted her skirt and whispered, "Sister, my foot hurts."

Chen Xizhao glanced at the darkening sky, irritated. "Be quiet!"

Chen Caiyin couldn't help whimpering softly. Chen Xizhao covered her mouth. "You'll attract wolves, and they'll eat us both!"

Both girls were frightened and afraid. Deep into the night, a lantern appeared at the mouth of the pit. Behind it stood a handsome young man with bright eyes and white teeth. He grinned at them. "Don't be afraid. I'll get you out."

His voice was clear yet steady. Chen Caiyin wiped away her tears and looked up. She would never forget that moment.

But the boy gazed at Chen Xizhao, who was about his age, his eyes shining.

2.

Chen Caiyin admired Pei Ze, the boy who had once saved her. Knowing that he loved her elder sister, she buried her feelings deep in her heart.

Just as she was preparing to let go, she happened upon Pei Ze confessing his feelings to her sister, his cheeks flushed red. Chen Xizhao threw his gift to the ground and stomped on it several times before rejecting him. "Don't come looking for me again."

"Why?" Pei Ze's eyes shone brilliantly as he asked, unwilling to give up.

"I won't marry a son born to a concubine."

Pei Ze left with his face red, humiliated.

That night, Chen Xizhao came to share Chen Caiyin's bed. As if trying to convince herself, she said, "Pei Ze may be handsome, cheerful, and decent, but his family isn't as distinguished as ours, and he's a son born to a concubine. I won't marry him."

Chen Caiyin gathered her courage and asked, "Then can I like Brother Aze?"

Chen Xizhao was speechless. For a long while, she said nothing.

3.

After being rejected, Pei Ze left in a fit of anger to enlist in the army a thousand miles away. Chen Caiyin went to see him off, tears in her eyes. "Brother Aze, don't forget me."

Pei Ze didn't take his rejection by Chen Xizhao out on her. He patted the little girl's head and smiled. "I'll bring you back some fun things from the border."

He left for a thousand miles. Ten years passed before they met again.

During those ten years, Chen Caiyin sent Pei Ze letters about the banquets and flowers in the capital, while he wrote back about the snowstorms and swords at the border. Their letters piled up into a thick stack.

When Pei Ze returned to the capital as a general, the only reward he asked the emperor for was permission to marry Chen Caiyin.

4.

Chen Xizhao got her wish and became the Crown Prince's secondary consort. She spent her days plotting and scheming, and was unhappy in her marriage. When she heard that Pei Ze had returned to the capital, she thought his old affection for her might move him to help.

Instead, she came upon him meeting her younger sister in private. Her sister had twisted her ankle, and he was carrying her through the streets. They were laughing joyfully.

The setting sun's afterglow fell over them, making them look like a picture of peaceful days. Chen Xizhao suddenly remembered the night she first met Pei Ze. The boy had carried her sister, who had broken her foot, making her laugh as he went. Under cover of night, he walked twenty li to find a doctor.

She had carried the lantern, walking behind them. Its light had fallen over them just like this.

P.S. In a modern-day setting, the protagonists would be like online friends who had met a few times. They each have their own lives and work hard at what they do. Separated by time, the time it takes for letters to arrive, and distance, they fall in love through their correspondence. Both keep their feelings very restrained.

Theme: Joys and sorrows, partings and reunions, life is like a play, and love is what we sow