A Sparrow Perched on a Cloud-Bough

[Dear readers, it's going VIP! Sorry I didn't give you advance notice. I thought the editor would be off for the National Day holiday and wouldn't check messages, but they found time to let me apply. So the VIP chapters won't start at 70,000 words. They'll begin tomorrow instead. I hope you'll keep supporting my work! Please leave your paw prints in the comments, and I'll reply to every one when I have time. Thank you!]

Shang Ningyu is the seventh young lady of the Earl of Zhongqin's household, a legitimate daughter born to the principal wife. But since she spent years living in the countryside with her parents during her father's provincial posting, the Old Madam doesn't favor her now that she's returned to the capital. To help her parents fulfill their filial duties, she decides to win the Old Madam's affection through her own efforts.

The young nobles of the capital's great families hold a polo match outside the city, with lavish prizes. Shang Ningyu eagerly attends, only to catch sight of the only son of the Princess Royal's household, the heir to the Marquis of Yongyi. One glance, and she is struck by his beauty.

Jiang Yu, heir to the Marquis of Yongyi, is handsome, charming, and always carries a jade dice. He is a notorious wastrel in the capital.

Shang Ningyu puts aside her distractions and gives her all to help her eldest sister win third place in the polo match. Just as she waits eagerly to claim the prize for her grandmother, she sees the heir to the Marquis of Yongyi turn his gaze toward her.

With his arms crossed and a jade-inlaid headband beneath his brows, he says nonchalantly, "If not for Seventh Miss, the Earl's household would have taken first place. What a pity."

Shang Ningyu is stunned. Then her joy drains away, and a wave of grievance crashes over her. She also loses the prize she had picked out for her grandmother. When the polo match ends, she reflects on the state of things and decides that the capital's young nobles are mostly wastrels. She should give up on marrying into a great family, so she begs her father to betroth her to an old family friend from the countryside who is about to come to the capital to sit the imperial examinations.

-

Jiang Yu prides himself on being so dashing that everyone who sees him falls for him. Yet after their first meeting, he hears that the seventh young lady of the Earl's household has called him ugly and rat-faced behind his back. He laughs it off, thinking she's just a small-minded person envious of him.

But from then on, he never catches even a trace of admiration in her eyes.

Later, the new emperor ascends the throne, and the Princess Royal's household rises in power. Jiang Yu sheds his wastrel ways and becomes one of the new emperor's most trusted ministers. Everyone in the capital assumes his pride has reached the heavens, yet they see him acting meekly before the now-down-on-her-luck seventh young lady of an old noble family.

One day, a friend sees the two together and is so shocked his jaw nearly drops. He hears them say:

She asks, "Do you think the tea smells good brewed this way?"

He replies, "It smells good."

She asks again, "Do these flowers look nice arranged this way?"

He replies again, "They look lovely."

She gives him a faintly amused look. "Don't you think something's missing?"

He answers solemnly, "Nothing's missing. If you made it, it's the best!"

#A practical heroine who holds a grudge vs. an arrogant wastrel hero. Both are sexually inexperienced. Alternate-world setting. The hero's long road to winning back his wife.

#They bring out the best and worst in each other.

#The heir has been wounded yet again today.

#Subtle stabs early on, open blades later. Every day brings another stab.

Theme: May life flourish and prosper