The Little Green Tea (Women Rule)

[The blurb has been removed.]

[Some people say there's no need to make the male lead suffer. He only used the female lead because his circumstances left him no choice. I thought about it carefully, and that's true, so I'm going to change the male lead. I can't accept anyone using the female lead, even if he had a reason and no other choice. If that bothers you, feel free to stop reading.]

Song Huaiyi's biological father died when he was young. His stepfather was unkind, while his mother usually played peacemaker, smoothing things over between them.

Growing up in such an environment, Song Huaiyi was forced to start currying favor with his mother, while secretly tripping up his stepfather and younger stepbrother.

A few days ago, Their Highness personally selected the top scholar. Word had it that the man was so gifted and handsome that countless men had secretly fallen for him.

At first, Song Huaiyi scoffed at this. He figured that anyone he hadn't seen for himself must be ugly.

Gifted and handsome? Those people had to be making it up.

Then the top scholar came to visit. His stepbrother stood shyly beside her, calling her "cousin" at every turn.

The man stood like a pine tree on a mountain, a hint of aloofness in his features.

This peerless beauty actually stood beside his stepbrother with a smile, listening to him talk.

Song Huaiyi thought that if he were the one standing beside that man instead, they would make a perfect pair.

So he adjusted his hairpin, put on a bashful expression, and walked up to the top scholar, calling out in a sweet voice, "Good day, Cousin."

Yan Jia had been traveling abroad for years and had only recently returned to the capital.

Drawing on her experience from her travels, Yan Jia won first place in the imperial examination.

Faced with all sorts of invitations, Yan Jia politely visited her aunt's home, only to find herself with a new cousin who wasn't related to her by blood.

This cousin was always putting on airs, and she could barely get away from him.

Then her young cousin tearfully told her that the man only wanted to use her to bully him.

Looking again at the other man's deeply affectionate expression, Yan Jia couldn't help finding it amusing.

What a practiced little schemer.

(The male lead will suffer. Though he soon falls utterly in love with the female lead, he should never have approached her with those intentions in the first place. I just want to make him suffer.)

Theme: Treat others with honesty.