My Royal Sister Dotes on Me

[Princess x Imperial Brother]

When the little princess was young, she followed the Grand Tutor around asking about civil officials, military generals, and the way to govern a nation. The Grand Tutor merely smiled and patted her head. "These aren't things a princess needs to learn. There's no need to dwell on them."

When she returned, she lay dejectedly across her desk and asked the crown prince, who was doing his lessons, "Can I do the things you'll do in the future, Brother?"

The crown prince was only thirteen then, his face still childish, but he seemed thoughtful. "One day, I'll have the greatest power in the world. Of course I'll be able to let my sister do whatever she wants."

Amid turbulent times, the nine-year-old princess was sent to her family's old home in Jiangnan. After the rebellion was put down, she and the Dowager Consort prayed for the souls of the dead at a temple, until news came that she was to be married off to secure an alliance.

At sixteen, Princess Yongan was chosen by the Jurchen to be their empress. A year before her wedding, she returned to the capital to prepare her dowry.

Their childhood words had been a joke, but the crown prince really did ascend the throne. Yet the bitter scent of medicine filled the emperor's bedchamber. When a long, jade-white hand reached toward her, she maintained the formalities between sovereign and subject and lowered her eyes. "I truly have done what my imperial brother was meant to do: protect Yongan for the sake of the nation."

The emperor had been bedridden for a long time and had no children. Ministers were already privately supporting a crown prince, while only the princess attended the emperor day and night, feeding him soup and medicine. She did not even ask about the wedding rites. Perhaps Heaven took pity on her: the medicine she had brought back from Jiangnan was effective, though its results came and went. In her sleep, she would sometimes see her imperial brother lifting her up, his arms strong and full of vigor, nothing like those of a sickly man.

But whenever a minister came to submit a report, he would feign weakness and send her to relay his words. He even let her draft the memorials, and she could stamp the imperial seal wherever she pleased.

The princess had lived among the common people for seven years. Countless wealthy merchants had come and gone, and at the temple she had witnessed the suffering of all kinds of people. She made decisions in the people's interest, but the ministers opposed her, and for the first time, even her imperial brother argued with her over state policy.

The princess knelt before the emperor, tears filling her eyes but refusing to fall. "Your younger sister did indeed forget that there are boundaries between ruler and subject. But please rest assured, Imperial Brother. Soon I will marry far away. I will not disturb the court's order, and I will remember that our bond as siblings ties our two nations together."

The emperor on the couch flew into a rage. "Then you might as well forget that we're siblings, too."

The princess thought the emperor, now recovered, meant to sever their relationship. But what came sooner than her wedding day was an imperial edict: This dynasty would never send a princess away in marriage to secure peace.

Fearing war would break out again, the princess knelt and begged her imperial brother to rescind the decree. But he patted her head just as the Grand Tutor had years ago and said, "My sister is worthy of being a ruler like Wu Zetian."

Coming from the emperor, even such a bold remark was a mark of respect.

On the day the victorious army returned to the capital, the princess knelt to welcome the emperor. The scent of dragon's-breath incense curled through the inner hall. She called out weakly, "Imperial Brother." He stroked her slender, pale neck and said, "I won't let my sister marry because anything a husband can do for you, your imperial brother can do as well."

#SC#

#Two little bitter melons in love#

#The leads are not blood-related#

Theme: May the land endure forever, and may the nation enjoy peace and prosperity.