Qi Ning was born with skin like ice and bones like jade, alluring and captivating. But as a girl from outside the Xie family, brought in by her father's concubine, she was never loved as a child.
Her adoptive mother was kind-faced but cold-hearted, and after her father's death, she often treated Qi Ning harshly.
One day, her elder brother Xie Chengzhou returns victorious from the battlefield, and the entire household is overjoyed.
Xie Chengzhou has always loathed Qi Ning, ever since they were children, and has never shown her kindness. She knows it well and treads all the more carefully.
Yet her elder brother is scrupulous about propriety, disciplined, and self-controlled. In the eyes of others, he is a paragon of virtue.
Qi Ning used to think so too.
Until that night, when she kneels before her elder brother, eyes red, and begs him:
"Brother, please save him. I'll do anything."
To her surprise, her elder brother abandons his usual proper demeanor, lifts her chin, and asks with a smile, "Anything?"
At the sight of his dark, possessive gaze, Qi Ning turns deathly pale.
[Sweetness amid heartbreak. Read with caution if this isn't your thing.]
Reading guide:
1. They are not biologically related, and the leads have no relationship while their supposed blood relation remains in effect.
2. A domineering, hypocritical gentleman x a gentle, resilient sweetheart.
Note from 2021.6.14.
Theme: Women should be self-reliant
