The Chapters of Jade

The waterside villages of Jiangnan had raised You Zhang into a thoughtful, easygoing young woman. She traveled three thousand li from the capital, heading east to visit her older sister, who was several years her senior. There she first met Third Master Ge, renowned as a man of virtue and integrity. He turned a string of green sandalwood prayer beads in his hand, his voice indistinct in the scent of agarwood, deep and weighty. “You hardly seem like a young lady from a distinguished southern family. You’re nowhere near as good-natured as your older sister.”

After many twists and turns, she returned to Shuzhou, intending to spend her days in quiet simplicity, listening to rain fall on withered lotus leaves. But that man came after her again, circling around her boat. The man who had seemed so detached from worldly desires spoke tender words of love with surprising tenderness. “Trust Third Master this time. I’ll take you back to the capital, and I know how to handle things.”

My new story, The Eldest Daughter’s Trials, is out. Come take a look…