Stealing My Sister-in-Law

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The upcoming novel, After My Crazy Stepson Set His Sights on Me, is waiting to launch. The blurb is at the end. Kind reader gods, please be kind and add it to your collection!

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Stoic, scheming, rugged grassland warrior × resilient, clever princess sent to marry for peace

When Ashina Daiqing heard that his elder brother was going to marry a princess sent from the Central Plains, he paid little attention at first.

He despised the cowardly old emperor for selling his daughter to buy glory, and that disdain extended to the princess he had never met.

So when he stood in for his brother to welcome the bride, he watched as servants helped the delicate princess down from her bridal carriage. Her wedding dress was bright red, like rosy clouds on the horizon. On a whim, he drew his bow and shot down her veil.

That peerlessly beautiful face was branded forever in his heart.

The princess looked straight at him, her gaze cold. "Is this how your country treats its guests?"

That very night, he dreamed of her. In his dream, she smiled sweetly, her pale fingers gliding lightly over his lapel.

When he awoke, music and dancing filled the air outside. His attendant told him that the Khan and the princess were holding their wedding ceremony.

A jealousy he had never known before planted a seed in his heart.

She was clever and beautiful, and his elder brother cherished her more with each passing day. The sight of them always together nourished that seed, until it took root, sprouted, and grew into vines that wound tightly around his heart.

At last, on a stormy night, he lifted the flap of her tent.

*

Yuan Jiahe had once been the apple of Prince Jiangxia's eye, a pampered young lady raised amid every luxury.

But fate was cruel. When she was ten, her father was executed for his involvement in a treason case. She, her mother, and her younger sister were exiled to guard the imperial mausoleum.

She thought she would spend the rest of her life there, until, at fifteen, the emperor decided he had no desire for war and wanted to send a princess to marry into the Northern Rong.

When the imperial decree was issued, everyone shied away from the prospect.

Only Yuan Jiahe looked at the mountains stretching beyond the mausoleum and at her little sister's fever-flushed cheeks, then resolved to volunteer for the marriage.

Fortunately, the Khan of the Northern Rong treated her well and doted on her. She taught the herders to read and write and to identify medicinal herbs, gradually earning their respect and affection.

There was only one person she could not avoid.

Her brother-in-law, Left Wise King Ashina Daiqing.

The first time they met, he stood in for his elder brother to welcome her, then shot down her veil with an arrow and grinned mischievously.

After that, he continued to show her little respect, behaving in ways that repulsed her. He showed not the slightest regard for her as his sister-in-law. Even with all her cleverness, she could do nothing about him except stay out of his way.

Until one stormy night, when thunder woke her from sleep. Heavy with child, she opened her eyes and saw Daiqing lifting the tent flap and barging in. He brought news of her husband's death.

At last, she understood what it was in his eyes that had frightened her.

He said, "Sister-in-law, my brother is gone. By the customs of the grasslands, you are to be my wife now."

[Reading Guide]

1. The heroine has a past with the hero's older brother. They truly were together, so please proceed with caution if this bothers you.

2. The heroine has a career arc, but this is not a story about an all-powerful heroine. Please go easy on me.

3. The hero is pretty awful at first and refuses to listen, but he'll change! He really will!

4. The Northern Rong in this novel combines elements from several historical grassland regimes and is not modeled on any one actual regime.

5. Before the hero's brother dies, the heroine and hero are not intimate. He has one-sided feelings for her. Their story begins when the Khan dies and the heroine remarries the hero.

--- Upcoming Novel ---

The Xie family of Chen Commandery had a daughter named Yunshu, whose beauty was peerless, whose words and conduct were admirable, whose bearing was as lovely as an orchid, and whose talent was said to rival the immortals. People of her time praised her as "Luoyang's Pearl."

Because of their families, she and Prince Jing, Xiao Ce, had grown up together and were deeply devoted to each other.

The spirited young man once plucked a peony branch in public and tossed it into her arms, laughing aloud, "Yunshu, once I've informed His Majesty and set an auspicious date, I'll marry you and make you my princess consort."

All of the capital called it a match made in heaven. Xie Yunshu blushed and agreed.

But she never got the grand wedding procession he had promised. Instead, witchcraft plunged the palace into turmoil. The empress was deposed, and the crown prince took his own life in the Eastern Palace. Prince Jing, the crown prince's younger brother, was implicated and sent to the barbarian lands as a hostage, never to return to the capital.

The next day, a palace eunuch brought an edict appointing Xie Yunshu as Consort Shu.

Xie Yunshu kowtowed and accepted the decree, her face showing neither grief nor joy.

On the day she left the city, Xiao Ce broke free of the soldiers escorting him and ran all the way to the city gate.

He wore prisoner's clothes and looked wretched. The moment he saw her in her formal hair ornaments and ceremonial robes, his eyes reddened.

"A Shu!" He blocked her carriage, his voice hoarse. "Don't go. I beg you, don't enter the palace as a consort..."

"I know you're afraid of hardship. I know this journey could mean life or death, but wait for me. Wait until I come back..."

"Come back?" At last, the carriage curtain lifted a little. Xie Yunshu looked down at him and smiled mockingly. "What should I wait for you to come back for? So you'll have nothing, and I'll have to spend the rest of my life suffering alongside you?"

Xiao Ce staggered back half a step as if struck by lightning.

She lowered the curtain. "Xiao Ce, what was between us ends here."

The carriage rolled away, raising a trail of dust.

Xiao Ce stood there, watching the carriage carrying the only thing he had ever longed for recede into the distance, until it disappeared beyond the city gate.

He fell to his knees in the dust and vomited blood.

Five years later, the palace was in chaos. The old emperor lay on his dragon bed, gravely ill and clinging to life, yet still unable to choose an heir.

Just then, urgent news came from the north. Xiao Ce had led three thousand cavalrymen, broken through three passes, and reached the capital's gates.

The court erupted in uproar. No one knew how Prince Jing, the discarded pawn, had quietly raised an army of wolves and tigers.

That night, Xie Yunshu sat alone in her chambers when she suddenly heard familiar footsteps outside the hall.

She sprang to her feet, but before she could call for anyone, the hall doors were kicked open.

A cold wind poured in, and the candle flames flickered.

Someone walked in against the light, snow still clinging to his black cloak and the sword at his waist carrying the scent of blood.

Xie Yunshu took a step back and struck the screen behind her.

He came before her, reached up, and gripped her chin, forcing her to raise her head.

Five years of wind and frost had carved his features into sharper lines, transforming the once dashing young man into the ruthless, ambitious figure before her.

"Consort Shu." He gave a low laugh, his voice hoarse. "Five years apart, and you're still as beautiful as ever."

Theme: True love means respect and choosing each other wholeheartedly.