The Duke's Young Cousin

The year before she came of age, Liu Ying's parents died one after another, leaving her an orphan. Following her mother's dying words, she went to live with her aunt, who had married into the third branch of the Duke's household.

The grand gates, lavish banquets, and solemn grandeur of a powerful family were unlike anything Liu Ying had ever known. Fortunately, the young masters and ladies of the Xie family treated her kindly enough, so life under someone else's roof wasn't too difficult.

That was also where Liu Ying met someone as heavenly as an immortal: Xie Heng, the eldest legitimate son of the Xie family. His father was a duke, his mother a princess, and he was born to inherit the title as heir. A man like him had no need to work as hard as someone from a humble family, yet he composed poetry at four, wrote essays at seven, and placed third in the imperial examinations at eighteen. In his early twenties, after years of navigating the world of officialdom, he had already reached the fourth rank.

Liu Ying could hardly believe she was able to exchange even a few words with someone like him.

Noble in character, bright and open-hearted, and as refined as an orchid, he was the elder brother his younger siblings throughout the Xie household respected and adored. He even looked after his distant cousin, Liu Ying, asking after her and caring for her.

On her seventeenth birthday, Xie Heng gave her a hairpin. Since hairpins were tokens of love between men and women, it was hard for Liu Ying not to read more into it and let herself entertain a few foolish hopes.

But those hopes vanished the moment the Princess asked if she would be willing to become her cousin's secondary wife. She had simply imagined too much and let herself grow greedy.

Humbly declining the offer, Liu Ying settled down and agreed to marry her sixth cousin from her aunt's household. He had always been infatuated with her. He wasn't especially outstanding, but he was honest and sincere. Even if he couldn't make her rich, she would never go without the necessities of life. And her aunt would make a wonderful mother-in-law. Liu Ying thought this was the right match for her.

Once she had made up her mind, Liu Ying devoted all her thoughts of love to her sixth cousin and took on the air of a bride-to-be. But for some reason, on the eve of the wedding, Xie Heng fell ill. He not only rudely called off the marriage arranged for him, but went mad with the desire to marry her.

But it was too late, Liu Ying thought.

The first time Xie Heng met the orphaned cousin from his third uncle's household, he felt a tender affection for her that he couldn't quite explain. Since she had become one of the family's younger sisters, he treated her just like the others.

But perhaps it was because he pitied her that Xie Heng showed her special affection. He read to her, taught her to play the qin, and played Go with her.

Over the course of two years, Yingniang grew up right under his nose into a beautiful young woman. One morning, Xie Heng awoke to realize that he had developed forbidden feelings for his younger cousin. So he decided to indulge his desire.

But as the heir to the Duke's household and the eldest legitimate son of his family, he was destined to marry a noblewoman of equal status to be his principal wife. She would manage the household, bear heirs to carry on the family line, and live with him in mutual respect and harmony.

So he could offer her only the position of a secondary wife.

Xie Heng thought Yingniang probably liked him too. He could see it in her eyes. So when his mother told him Yingniang had refused, he could hardly believe it.

But he thought that a person's selfish desires were only temporary, and that he would get over them if he waited. So, without much enthusiasm, he agreed to the match his parents had chosen for him.

Xie Heng thought they could each go their own way in peace. But every time he saw Yingniang being affectionate with his sixth younger brother, it felt as if ten thousand ants were gnawing at his heart, keeping him awake night after night.

Only then did Xie Heng realize how much he had underestimated his love for Yingniang.

Fortunately, it still wasn't too late.

Reader's Guide

A sweet romance focused on feelings, with no political intrigue.

Simple prose. Readers with high standards may want to skip this.

Bright and noble eldest legitimate son and cousin × delicate, beautiful younger cousin

Theme: Take things as they come