So What If She's the Eldest Sister-in-Law?

[Starts when the saved draft reaches 200,000 words]

[Flirtatious and calculating, but actually a silly beauty x a vindictive minister who loses his composure and goes berserk]

Xue Fu was beautiful and ambitious, always hoping to use her good looks to find a wealthy husband. She was willing to be a concubine if that was what it took. Anything was better than living in poverty.

Even when she once rescued a man by the river, and the badly injured man promised after waking that he would repay her kindness and marry her with all the proper rites, Xue Fu secretly thought: He says his family only has enough to get by. That's not good enough.

Just then, the eldest son of the wealthiest family in Cangzhou, the Shen family, fell gravely ill and remained unconscious for days. Old Madam Shen paid handsomely for an expert's advice and urgently needed someone to bring him good fortune through marriage.

While the man was away, Xue Fu stole his jade pendant, ran off, exchanged it for money, and bribed the expert performing the ritual for the Shen family. As she had wished, she married into the Shen family.

But her good fortune didn't last. Xue Fu realized there was a problem: it might be fine if the sickly man stayed in bed forever, but what if he died? Wouldn't that leave her a widow with no one to depend on?

After thinking it over, Xue Fu realized that instead of waiting on the sickly man, she still had several younger brothers-in-law to choose from.

The third brother was a playboy, but easy to charm. All she had to do was crook a finger, and he would be the first to come running and fawn over her.

The fourth brother was bookish and young enough to take everything she said seriously. He always blushed when he looked at her.

Both were quite suitable.

Xue Fu had planned for everything, but she had never accounted for the second brother, whom she had never met, though she'd heard early on that he was cold and utterly devoid of human warmth.

Then one day, she finally heard that he had returned home. Xue Fu looked toward the sound, and saw that the man staring straight at her with a poison-laced gaze was none other than the man she had abandoned in the countryside.

-

Bonus Scene 1

In a shadowy attic, Xue Fu's fingers were limp, her neck flushed red. Shen Jin gripped her waist and patiently whispered in her ear, "Sister-in-law, have you really thought this through?"

Xue Fu's face was flushed, and she couldn't get a word out. She had never imagined he would hold such a grudge.

Bonus Scene 2

Shen Jin had always known that Xue Fu would do anything to live well. She had saved his life, and he had also grown attached to those days they spent close together in the countryside. He could give her a life of comfort and security, as long as she obediently stayed by his side alone.

But when he went out to buy the things she liked and came back, she was nowhere to be found. She had taken all his money and run off without a trace.

When they met again, she had become his sister-in-law, and she was smiling at both his third and fourth brothers.

Fine. Very good.

Reader's Notes:

1. The male lead is older than the female lead.

2. While the female and male leads are in a sister-in-law and brother-in-law relationship, they will not have sex.

August 3, 2026

Theme: Be brave and pursue love