A Golden Branch Kept Hidden

Chen Rong, Lady of Jiahe County, relies on her parents’ indulgence and insists on choosing her own husband. She falls for Sun Yi, the youngest son of the Loyal and Brave Marquis, and secures an imperial decree granting them a marriage. When war breaks out, Sun Yi wants to earn merit on the front lines. But as only a seventh-rank junior assistant military officer in the nomadic troops, he is not qualified to lead an army. So Chen Rong begs her aunt, the Imperial Noble Consort who dotes on her, to send Sun Yi to the front. The emperor agrees, hoping Sun Yi will distinguish himself in battle and return with enough merit to earn a promotion and noble title worthy of Lady Jiahe. Unexpectedly, out of gratitude, Sun Yi marries the daughter of a minor official on the frontier. After returning victorious, he asks the emperor to exchange his military achievements for an imperial decree dissolving his engagement. The emperor is furious. While everyone else is promoted and ennobled, Sun Yi remains a seventh-rank junior assistant military officer. Chen Rong still refuses to give up. She repeatedly tries to get rid of the concubine-born girl, only to anger Sun Yi. He bluntly rejects her and breaks her heart. After her engagement is called off, Chen Rong is scorned, mocked, and made the subject of gossip. Just as she is losing all hope, Ji Yuxian, the newly appointed top scholar who has returned to the capital after providing disaster relief in Tongzhou, comes to ask for her hand. Ji Yuxian, heir to the Duke of Anguo, is praised by all: “Bright as the sun and moon in one’s embrace, radiant as a jade tree in the breeze.” Ji Yuxian had planned to go to the frontier to gain experience before returning to confess his love to her. Who could have imagined that Sun Yi would get there first? Heaven still looks after the devoted. That fool actually broke off the engagement... This story is neither about being reborn nor about transmigrating. I hope you’ll enjoy it.