After Provoking My Brooding Older Brother

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Xie Yu'er was born into another era, in a prestigious family as its legitimate daughter.

She was spoiled and willful, skilled at competing for favor and looking down on those below her while fawning on those above. She loved fine silks, jewelry, and gold. She was nothing but flaws.

If she weren't so beautiful, the grass on her grave would be six feet tall by now.

She especially couldn't stand her older brother, Xie Chang. He was a refined gentleman, handsome and graceful, admired and envied by everyone. Wherever he went, their parents always took his side and forgot all about her, so Xie Yu'er was always picking on him behind his back.

On the day of her coming-of-age ceremony, in the sixteenth year of Shengping, Xie Yu'er accidentally overheard her parents talking. She learned that Xie Chang wasn't her brother at all. He was the son of the former Crown Prince. Her father had risked his life to save him, hoping to secure favor with the new emperor, and raised him as his own.

Now that Xie Chang was about to come of age, it was time for him to marry, and her parents were looking for a suitable family for him.

Her father said, "Yu'er would have been the best choice, but her character is questionable and she's stupid. She absolutely cannot get caught up in this mess."

Xie Yu'er was so angry that she burst into tears. How was she stupid? How was she not good enough for Xie Chang? He was only a little better-looking, a little more skilled in martial arts, a little better at writing essays, and a little quicker to rise through the ranks at such a young age... Maybe he was pretty impressive.

No matter what, she held it against Xie Chang from that moment on.

To trample him underfoot, crush his dignity, and expose his hypocrisy, Xie Yu'er carefully planned how to toy with him.

She used herself as bait, deliberately making him believe that he'd slept with his own "sister" while she was drunk.

That morning, Xie Yu'er wrapped herself in a quilt, one bare shoulder showing, and called out with tears in her eyes, "Brother, how could you do this to me...?"

His face darkened instantly.

Just as Xie Yu'er had hoped, Xie Chang was consumed by the shame of violating moral and familial boundaries, hating himself as a beast. With guilt weighing on him, he accepted every insult and provocation she threw at him afterward.

Xie Yu'er: Finally, I got even!

But later, when Xie Yu'er was preparing to leave and marry someone else, Xie Chang defied all propriety and climbed into her bed in the middle of the night.

He kissed the back of her hand, his voice cloying. "My dear little sister, now that this has happened, it proves we were meant for each other. You're mine. Don't even think about marrying anyone else."

Xie Yu'er: "Huh?"

Help! I pushed things too far. He's a pervert!

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Reader's Guide: They are no longer related by the time they truly get together. Both are sexually inexperienced, one-on-one romance, happy ending!

Theme: Live well.