A fake-siblings story with an angsty but happy ending.
He and she were like dawn and dusk. He was an upright court official with a bright future, while she was a princess sent to marry for peace, abandoned by her country and sentenced to die for its honor.
He had come to execute her.
Her long black hair flowed like a waterfall, but she refused to accept her fate. "My country has been reduced to a drifting wreck. Its people are too cowardly to face the enemy, so they think killing a woman will preserve their honor? I was sent away to marry at nine. I endured endless humiliation and hardship just to survive until now, all so I could hope to return home. My lord, why not spare my life?"
Killing her was the emperor's command. He said nothing.
She continued, "Will erasing me erase my country's shame? Strangling a woman who gave everything for her country, is that what a loyal minister does?"
Rain fell through the bamboo grove.
He set down the white silk cord and tucked a branch into her hair.
Startled by his audacity, she then heard him say:
"Once your hair is pinned up, you will no longer be a princess."
"From today on, you will take my surname."
"Your country cannot protect you. I will."
"Your country owes you. I will repay that debt."
"You are my half-sister, Pei Zhiwei."
The mountain moon shone like a candle, and wind and frost stirred the bamboo. His words shook her. Her lashes trembled. "Lord Pei, do you know that hiding me is a capital offense?"
"I know."
"So please, tell no one the secret that you are still alive."
She stood where she was, unable to move forward or back, letting the drizzle soak her.
"Zhiwei, do you want to stand in the rain forever?" He held an umbrella, his tall figure like a jade disc beaded with raindrops. He waited for her to step beneath it and walk with him.
He had given her a way to live, a perilous lifeline as precarious as a thin rope over a cliff. As they looked at each other, she seemed to hear him ask: Princess, dare you walk with me?
She gathered her courage and walked toward him.
Later, when he lifted her onto the desk, and beneath her slender waist and skirts she saw his forceful, graceful calligraphy, she was horrified. "You're insane."
He was. He had gone mad from the moment he hid her.
Screenshot saved on 2024.6.1.
I'll revise the blurb's details and names if I think of better ones.
Set in a fictional world. Please don't nitpick the history.
Theme: [A Pure Love Story]
