A Spring Dream in the Southern Branch

A chest full of gold, a chest full of silver, but in the blink of an eye, she was despised by all as a beggar. Yu Yanru, like her wealthy and influential classmates, was always scoffed at for her arrogant self-confidence in her appearance and scholarship.

Unexpectedly, by chance, she became the muse for the renowned painter Ji Mingxiu, and her name became famous throughout Jinling. Unfortunately, fate had other plans. A year after becoming his companion, her scheme to enter his household failed, but she inadvertently stumbled into a dreamlike trap.

Even though her friend warned her that some places were so corrupt that only the stone lions at the entrance were clean, she still chose sacrifice over a simple life versus a life of luxury and power, falling into a vortex adorned with jade and jewels.

Years later, her younger sister, Yu Yanbao, cradling that painting with only a few strokes, asked the haggard Yu Yanru, "Sister, do you regret it?" This story is adapted from "Dream of the Red Chamber," and the content is purely fictional.