Forbidden seduction | Brothers in rivalry
1
Hua Zhaoyun was widowed six months into her marriage, and then her mother fell into trouble.
It wasn't until her shameless father-in-law sent someone to bring her to the capital that she learned her husband had been born into a marquis's household.
And the first thing her father-in-law said was, "Bear Pei Yu a child, and I'll ensure you and your mother are safe, prosperous, and comfortable for the rest of your lives."
Hua Zhaoyun: "...What?"
Hua Zhaoyun: "Perhaps the customs are different where I'm from, but where I come from, a woman wouldn't dare sleep with her husband's elder brother and bear him a child."
2
Pei Yu, Censor-in-Chief, had been devoted to Buddhism since childhood. He was as unyielding as a pine in winter, upright and self-disciplined.
Yet lately, the man who could not abide the slightest stain found his gaze caught again and again by a glimpse of a fair, graceful neck.
It belonged to his newly widowed sister-in-law.
Dignified and proper, timid and gentle, she had been devoted to his younger brother.
For his brother's sake, if she ran into difficulties, he was willing to help her impartially.
But as time went on, their entanglement deepened.
It was only when his fingers brushed the lotus-colored undergarment on the bed that he suddenly came to his senses.
Beneath the covers, desire surged, impossible to suppress.
"Beast."
He raised a hand and slapped himself hard across the face.
3
Hua Zhaoyun carefully played the part of a widow as she edged closer, and at last managed to get the cold, aloof man drunk.
Just as she was about to go through with it, her late husband came back.
"Father's suggestion was truly absurd."
"Fortunately, my upright and honorable elder brother knows nothing of it. Let's pretend none of this ever happened."
"Don't worry. I'll find a way to handle my mother-in-law's situation."
After a long silence, Hua Zhaoyun put on her outer robe, part weary and part resigned. Her voice was honey-sweet as she said, "In this life, the only man I can rely on is you, Pei Lang."
At the nearby writing desk, the drunken man's eyelashes suddenly trembled. Dark clouds surged through his black eyes for an instant.
The night before, when this poor sister-in-law had accidentally fallen into his arms, she had whispered those same words in his ear.
So she had been deliberately seducing him all along.
All his nights of struggling to restrain himself had been nothing but a joke.
"Beast."
He hated himself for not being a beast.
He wanted to be a beast in gentleman's clothing.
[Bonus scene]
"You turned down every portrait of the young ladies sent by the palace, Elder Brother. Is there someone you have feelings for?"
Pei Yu looked up from his desk and smiled faintly. "I like women whose husbands are dead."
"A chaste widow from some family?" Pei Yan pondered. "If you want her, it shouldn't be difficult."
"Is that so?" Pei Yu stared at him. "But that woman's husband came back to life."
Reader's guide:
1. The female lead has already obtained her divorce papers by the time she arrives in the capital.
2. Happy ending. Neither the female nor the male leads have had previous partners.
3. The two husbands are going to fight. Let them fight.
Theme: The hunter always appears in the guise of prey
