The Emperor's Younger Brother Is So Stubborn, He Dares to Imprison His Elder Sister?

“He plucked the fiercest plum blossom, and broke her wings.”

On the night of the palace coup, Princess Xiao Ling watched her younger brother take his last breath. Three years later, the substitute emperor, wearing her brother’s face, toys with my sash while staring intently at me. “Elder Sister, what do you think will break first tonight, the strings of the zither or your resolve?”

Rumors spread through the palace: the emperor had dragged his own sister into bed. To silence them, my mother consort decides to find me a husband and marry me off. At the highly anticipated Plum-Searching Banquet, everyone wonders who will claim the green calyx plum blossom that seems to bloom above the clouds. Then a young man in red comes through the snow, scattering the fragrance of plum blossoms everywhere. Just as everyone is wondering which family’s young master he is, he turns around, and they all drop to their knees.

“Greetings, Your Majesty!”

My mother consort is furious, but he merely says, “Everyone else can attend the Plum-Searching Banquet. Why can’t I?” The emperor, my younger brother, corners me and whispers, “Elder Sister, unless I die, you’ll never escape this cage.”