Spoiled by a Brooding Big Shot

[A ruthless, merciless regent with power over the court vs. a soft-hearted, adorable little sister]

He Chengxiao was the youngest regent in the Great Jin dynasty, and his name was said to frighten children into silence at night.

He used the emperor to control the feudal lords, ordered people burned alive as offerings, boiled them alive, and committed every imaginable atrocity.

Everyone feared and hated him.

The Ruan family were loyal supporters of the emperor. To help him reclaim power and rid the people of the regent, they decided to use a beauty trap, offering their family's cleverest and most charming eldest daughter to the regent.

But the legitimate wife of the family head doted on her own daughter and couldn't bear to send her into the tiger's den. Just as the palanquin was about to leave for the regent's residence, she had Ruan Qingli, who had been standing nearby watching the commotion, tied up and shoved inside instead.

The main hall towered above them. Regent He Chengxiao sat on a grand chair, watching as the servants slowly lifted the palanquin curtain.

First came a delicate chin, then an upturned nose, and finally the clear, innocent eyes of the person inside.

Ruan Qingli blinked at the regent and opened her hand, revealing the sunflower seeds she hadn't finished eating.

"If I say I was kidnapped and brought here, would you believe me?"

He Chengxiao smiled, turning the blood-soaked, bright-red ring on his finger. He rose to his feet with casual indifference.

"Take her away. Chop off her hands and feet and feed her to the dogs."

"..."

No one believed the foolish Fifth Miss Ruan could survive a single day under the regent's roof.

But one day passed, then a month, then a year. Ruan Qingli was not only pampered until her skin was soft and delicate, but grew more and more spoiled. Once, when bandits kidnapped her, the regent himself came to their hideout with a knife to rescue her.

-

Later, Ruan Qingli tried to help the emperor reclaim power by poisoning He Chengxiao on their wedding night.

In the dark dungeon, He Chengxiao pinned her firmly against the wall.

Not far away, the young emperor knelt on the ground, trembling.

The regent who held the court in his power looked at Ruan Qingli, her face covered in tears and snot, and laughed in exasperation. "I haven't even said a harsh word to you, and you're already crying."

He threatened her in a fierce voice:

"Ruan Qingli, cry again and I'll chop off your hands and feet and feed you to the dogs."

Ruan Qingli immediately stopped crying and blinked, realizing her life was safe.

She'd heard that line so often her ears had grown numb to it. She'd never actually been fed to the dogs.

The dogs never got fed, but who could have guessed that that very night, He Chengxiao, that mad dog, would drag her back to bed and torment her all night...

Theme: Live well, and do good with a kind heart.