After Pretending to Be the Powerful Minister’s Sister

The moment the Wen family's real daughter collapsed in a pool of blood, Shu He took the token of recognition and went from a servant girl everyone could bully to a young lady.

Shu He now had a mother who cherished her, but Madam Ye was bedridden with a lingering illness and likely had only a few years left to live.

She knew that the Wen family's present glory rested entirely on her elder brother, Wen Xiuheng, who had helped the future emperor ascend the throne.

He was handsome and refined, yet cold and unfeeling. He was especially distant toward her, his "younger sister."

Shu He thought that she would have to rely on him in the future, so all she could do was try her hardest to please him.

Until one day, when Shu He brought ginseng soup into Wen Xiuheng's study, she saw his bloodshot eyes and his disordered breathing...

After that, Shu He became afraid of Wen Xiuheng. Her brother grew even more distant, and even wanted to marry her off as soon as possible.

Shu He lived in fear and trepidation at the Wen residence. Then one day, she saw the real daughter, who should have been dead, walking along the street...

She thought that finding a husband and a protector in time might not be such a bad thing.

After she became engaged to the young master of the Minister of Revenue's family, Wen Xiuheng brought the real daughter back to the residence.

Madam Ye looked at her true daughter, then at Shu He, and said helplessly to Wen Xiuheng, "She is already engaged to the Minister of Revenue's family. Why not recognize them both as daughters of the Wen family?"

The man's icy voice doused the hope kindling in Shu He's heart.

"No."

Afraid of Wen Xiuheng's ruthless methods, she packed her belongings and climbed over the wall to leave, but her fiance never showed up for their rendezvous.

When she saw his jade pendant on the ground, she looked up and found Wen Xiuheng's face livid with rage.

Wen Xiuheng could only think how laughable he was.

That clumsy impersonation had been so obvious, yet he hadn't noticed a single flaw. He had treated her as his real younger sister, thinking even one extra glance at her would be profane. After all those days of tormenting himself, he learned it had all been a lie.

The usually proper elder brother pulled her slender ankle onto the bed. A red mark immediately appeared on her fair skin. Yet the calloused pad of his finger gently wiped away the tear at the corner of her eye.

The dream he had repressed so many times finally became reality. His usually cold eyes no longer concealed the surging desire within them.

They were not siblings, so from now on she could only belong to him...

Reading Guide:

1. Both leads have only ever been with each other.

2. While they are siblings, there is no romantic development or physical intimacy.

Coming Soon: My Cousin Who Lives Under Someone Else's Roof

When Li Shuyue was sixteen, she lost both her parents and had no choice but to move in with her stepmother's natal family, the Zhou family, together with her older half-sister.

She was a concubine-born daughter, unrelated by blood to the Zhou family, and they did not welcome her. Li Shuyue was careful and timid, walking with her head down and not daring to speak loudly.

The Zhou family's young master, a notorious troublemaker and her cousin in name, was the only one willing to talk to her.

Zhou Wenjing disliked Li Shuyue. Her father had favored his concubine and mistreated his wife, driving Zhou Wenjing's aunt to an early grave. Why should the Zhou family have to raise the daughter of their enemy?

If she wanted to live in the Zhou household, she would have to earn it...

After reading a romance booklet belonging to one of his classmates, he came up with a way to humiliate her.

He began smiling at her, occasionally bringing her clothes and food and saying a few kind words.

All the while, he thought that once she fell for him, he would abandon her.

She craved that tiny bit of warmth. He only had to show her a little kindness, and she really did believe him, even asking whether he truly liked her.

What a joke. How could he like the daughter of his enemy?

Still, he smiled and comforted her.

Until the Zhou family discovered their relationship, and Madam Zhou publicly accused Li Shuyue of shamelessness.

When Li Shuyue looked helplessly at Zhou Wenjing, he said nothing.

At that moment, Li Shuyue understood that he had only been using her for revenge, to avenge his aunt, who had died in despair.

Her heart turned to ash. So when bandits attacked, she chose to stay behind and protect her older sister, while her own carriage plunged off a cliff.

This way, she had repaid her sister...

Everyone said that no one could survive such a fall.

But that notorious troublemaker searched beneath the cliff with his men for a whole month, and in the end, all they found was the carriage, shattered into pieces.

By now, her bones had probably been carried off by wolves or pecked at by eagles...

From then on, Zhou Wenjing seemed like a different person. When war broke out on the border, he gave up the noble title inherited from his ancestors and secretly enlisted in the army alone, without telling his family...

Later, Zhou Wenjing distinguished himself in battle and became a renowned general. His fearless courage was enough to make enemy troops tremble at the mere mention of his name.

In a small border town, he saw her again.

She was smiling brightly, her eyes shining.

He saw her with her husband, working from sunrise to sunset.

He saw the slight swell of her belly beneath her loose robes...

Theme: Our fate is in our own hands