He is my brother, but he isn’t my brother.
Shen Yu, Deputy Privy Councilor with power over the court, is a cold and desireless minister in everyone’s eyes. Yet he kneels to put shoes on for me, his “younger sister,” combs my hair with his own hands, and pampers me into the most spoiled darling in the capital. I love him. What began as innocent affection has grown into a burning passion, this forbidden love consuming me like wildfire.
But when I gathered all the courage I had and placed a blood-red love letter in his hands, all I got was his cold profile by the brazier and a floor full of ashes. He burned my foolish hopes and dried up my tears. I resolved to leave for Jiangnan and bury the rest of my life amid the misty rain of its waterways.
I thought I had escaped.
I never knew that every night after I left the capital, his guards watched outside my window until dawn; that every friend I made had their background laid out on his desk; that whenever I spitefully accepted another man’s advances, he would crush the cup in his hand from a thousand miles away.
He thought he could endure it. He would hold back until his blood feud was avenged and the realm was in his grasp, then take me into his arms openly and honorably.
Until a carrier pigeon arrived from the spies at the Jiangnan villa. A few short words were enough to shatter his reason:
“Miss has accepted Young Master Su’s proposal.”
In that moment, the lurking lone wolf finally tore off his disguise. He descended from the throne, leaving behind a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood, treading through fresh blood and fire, all to capture his caged bird with his own hands.
“A Ying,” his bloodstained fingers caressed my face. His eyes held madness enough to destroy the world, and a possessiveness just as absolute. “Had your fun? It’s time to come home.”
What you thought was him letting go was the deepest trap he had laid. The freedom you longed for was the sweetest drug under his control.
(| possessive love | secret love comes true | emperor’s devoted love)
