Sister-in-Law to the Emperor

*See my profile for the upcoming novel The Chancellor's Younger Sister

(Forceful pursuit / groveling chase / uncle-and-sister-in-law romance)

[Mad Emperor x Delicate Empress Dowager]

After the late emperor died, he left behind an empress and his stepson, who had only each other for support.

As power slipped away and her stepson was imprisoned, Empress Jiang Yao sought help from her brother-in-law.

Not long after her husband's death, Jiang Yao went to Prince Jing Pei She's bedchamber in the dead of night. Her white mourning clothes accentuated her graceful figure and slender waist.

"If you help me, my lord, I... will offer you the pleasure of my company."

Her voice was so sweet it seemed to drip with honey.

Pei She was a devil who had clawed his way out of a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood: sinister, vicious, cold-blooded, and heartless.

He coveted his elder brother's throne and lusted after his brother's wife. To get what he wanted, he had employed every means and laid trap after trap.

His elder brother had just died, and his helpless, lonely sister-in-law had walked straight into his snare.

His sister-in-law was pitiful and alone, with no choice but to let him do as he pleased.

He was cruel by nature. Even when his sister-in-law was in tears and unable to resist, he would grip her chin and wipe away the tears at the corner of her eye. "Take a good look, Sister-in-law. I'm Erlang."

"Don't call me the wrong name again."

Jiang Yao thought he had agreed only because he wanted a taste of something new. It wasn't until he murdered the emperor and seized the throne, keeping her under house arrest, that she realized he had planned it all long ago. Every step she took had been part of his scheme. She had walked into his trap without realizing it, and he had devoured her until not even a scrap of bone remained.

She saw the error of her ways and tried to escape under the pretext of going to burn incense and pray. But Pei She caught her.

In the dusky evening light, Pei She blocked her path and forced her into a corner. His towering figure completely enveloped her as his large hand rested on her swollen belly. "Sister-in-law, you even have my child inside you. Do you still want to run?"

"The whole empire belongs to me now. Where could you possibly escape to?"

Reader's Guide:

1. The heroine has previous experience; the hero is inexperienced. One-on-one romance, happy ending.

2. Dramatic, coercive romance with a groveling chase. If that's not your thing, read with care.

The blurb for the upcoming novel The Chancellor's Younger Sister:

Gu Yinzhen was adopted by a general's family. With a face of breathtaking beauty, she entered the palace by imperial decree at the age of fifteen and became empress.

Five years passed in a flash. Her elder brother, Gu Xi, became chancellor and a powerful minister who held all authority in his hands, manipulating the emperor as he pleased.

The emperor's health was steadily declining, but she, as empress, still showed no sign of pregnancy.

The empress dowager urged her every day to conceive, making her drink all sorts of bitter, foul-smelling medicinal soups.

But only she knew that her husband, the Son of Heaven, suffered from an ailment that made him incapable of fathering a child.

Unable to endure the torment any longer, Gu Yinzhen pretended to be pregnant. Only then did the empress dowager let her leave the palace and return to the Gu family to recuperate.

Her brother Gu Xi was now a powerful minister, a man who had risen from the battlefield to the highest offices of state. His temperament had changed since their youth, yet he was still as gentle with her as ever. His warmth made Gu Yinzhen let down her guard. Taking advantage of being tipsy, she tugged at his sleeve, half-drunk and half-awake. "Brother, I lied. I'm not pregnant."

"Brother, I want... a child with you."

Gu Xi had left home as a young man and spent years in the saddle, busy with military campaigns. When he returned, his many military accomplishments had raised him from regional military governor of Shuofang to Minister of State. He had avenged his dead father and protected his younger sister, who lived in the imperial harem.

After so many years of war, his sister remained the little girl he remembered.

When she returned home to recover, she was just like she had been as a child. When she was wronged, she came to him in tears. When thunder rumbled, she knocked on his door in the middle of the night. After a nightmare, she would run into his arms and sob quietly.

Everything was just as it had been in his youth, as if it were yesterday. And yet everything had changed. His sister had grown into an elegant young woman, no longer the little girl who followed him around calling, "Brother."

She had even learned to drink. When she was drunk, she tugged at his sleeve and looked at him through hazy eyes, saying she wanted to have a child with him.

"Brother, will you help me make this lie come true?"

As if possessed, he pulled his sister close, his throat tight. "All right."

Gu Yinzhen got what she wanted and made the lie come true, deceiving the empress dowager and the entire world.

But her chronically ill husband passed away, and in the space of a day, the empire changed hands and the throne changed occupants.

She was carried back into the palace in a phoenix sedan once more.

That night, red candles wept in the warm embroidered bedchamber. Her brother, who had always treated her gently, appeared before her in imperial robes and forced her to put on the heavy empress's crown.

"Little sister, how about becoming my empress?"

Theme: Hold on to who you are, even in difficult circumstances