Sister Becomes Empress

At fourteen, Xiu'e was separated from her younger brother and abducted by the powerful, forced to serve as a lowly bedchamber maid.

After faking her death to survive, Xiu'e drifted through a world in turmoil and met the second son of the Pei clan of Hedong.

He was brilliant and refined, as graceful as an orchid and as elegant as jade. Time and again, he saved her from dire straits.

To repay him, Xie Xiu'e offered herself to him.

But he had yet to earn a name for himself, so the two only wrote a marriage contract, promising to meet in the capital three years later.

*

In the second year of Yong'an, the chaos finally began to settle, and a new emperor ascended the throne.

During the general amnesty, Xiu'e went to the capital as promised.

She had just found a seat in a noodle shop when a young nobleman in fine clothes suddenly sat down across from her.

He wore a veiled hat, obscuring his features, but his sinister eyes were exactly like those of her younger brother from years ago. His gaze made every hair on her body stand on end.

As timid as ever, she didn't dare look at him for long. She only brushed the loose hair at her temple aside and said in a trembling voice, “Someone's sitting here.”

That night, she had her first erotic dream.

In it, heat coursed through her body as a young man held her close. With each movement, beads of sweat fell against his pale neck.

She bit down hard on her tongue, trying to end the absurd dream, but the young man took her earlobe between his lips and whispered:

“Since when did you become so stingy, Sister? Won't you even let your own younger brother meet his brother-in-law?”

“After all, you and I are closer and dearer to each other than anyone...”

Xiu'e jolted upright in shock. As if sensing something, she looked into the room and met a pair of shadowy eyes

“Why did you wake up, Sister? Was I not good enough in your dream?”

The young man's voice was eerie, his gaze dark and cloying, like a vengeful ghost crawling up from the underworld.

But she knew he wasn't a ghost.

He was simply the younger brother she hadn't seen in years.

*

One day, her younger brother forcefully gripped her chin and made her look at him.

“I killed many people today, Sister. You must kiss me once to atone for my sins.”

Xie Xiu'e tried to turn away from such mad words.

But he forcibly turned her face back and bit down on her soft lips, kissing her fiercely. “If you don't teach me soon, Sister, how am I supposed to find another woman?”

At his words, Xie Xiu'e froze. Her trembling gaze fell on the young man's noble face, so close to hers.

His sweet words made her heart pound.

The next moment, she pressed her lips to his of her own accord.

“It's a promise.”

“I'll teach you, and then you'll let me go...”

She wanted so badly to get away that she missed the dark hatred in her younger brother's eyes.

“Fine.”

Only after he took more and more liberties with her night after night did Xiu'e realize she had fallen for his trick again.

1. A dark, clingy ghost of a young emperor, on top × an honest, timid married woman, on the bottom

2. The male lead is inexperienced; the female lead is not. She's not a strong heroine, and she's timid. The male lead has poor morals. Please steer clear if that's not your thing.

3. A story of bitter love and hatred, with a “taking a minister's wife” plotline. A bittersweet, slightly sweet romance.

[Coming Soon] Blurb begins here

[Scheming, calculating, sweet-on-the-outside-but-dark-within common-born concubine's daughter × aloof, upright, gentle, incorruptible official]

Female lead's perspective:

To secure a future for herself, Jiang Bailing entered into a marriage of convenience with Shen Zhu, her family's rival from across the street for ten years.

She thought theirs would be a superficial arrangement, neither in love nor willing, with each getting what they wanted. But then she accidentally heard him murmuring her childhood nickname as their lovemaking died down.

Jiang Bailing had endured sixteen years of disdain from everyone in the Jiang household. She had never heard such a tender voice before, so she let him hold her as she closed her eyes and wondered in a daze:

Why not give it a try?

Try entrusting her heart to someone, growing old together, and loving each other forever...

She had suffered for over a decade. She wanted to live, just once, like the heroines in the storybooks.

But their happiness didn't last. Less than three days after Shen Zhu passed the imperial examinations, he was made the scapegoat for a treacherous official, and she was forced to go into exile with him on the frontier.

Their place of exile was a remote, barren frontier town.

To make a living, she took up her mother's old tea-making trade while she and Shen Zhu supported each other. Gradually, the two of them built a successful business on the frontier.

Later, Shen Zhu was cleared of the charges and rose swiftly to become Grand Preceptor.

But Jiang Bailing became entangled in a trap laid by her own family and couldn't escape.

Jiang Bailing didn't want to be a burden to anyone, so she thoughtfully handed him a divorce agreement.

But she never expected Shen Zhu to abandon every last principle to avenge her and keep her safe.

She had spent most of her life making plans for herself, but she had never imagined that someone's heart could burn so fiercely with sincerity.

Everyone said she was worthless.

She too believed she was as fragile as a blade of grass, and that life and death didn't matter.

Only he cherished her like a precious pearl and cared for her with all his heart.

2024.11.15

*The female lead's perspective is a marriage-first, love-later romance. From the male lead's perspective, it's unrequited love coming true, a long-laid plan, and a second chance after separation.

*The transmigration is for a supporting character. The leads are both natives of this world. Both are each other's first and only.

*An entirely fictional setting. The female lead rises from humble beginnings, while the male lead is reborn. A farming story set amid exile and famine, with some road-trip elements. Their relationship develops as they build a life together.

Content warning: Simple, straightforward prose and a slow, steady pace.

A cozy historical romance.

Theme: Sincerity can overcome every obstacle