[Not-Related Siblings, Both Chaste]
A new female tutor arrived at the palace. Her surname was Shen, and her name was Wanniang. Her face was as lovely as peach blossoms, but her smiling eyes always held a hint of detachment. Many admired her, but few dared get close.
The only person in the whole capital connected to her was her older brother, Shen Xiaoqing, who had abandoned her.
He was now a tutor to Prince Liang. People said he spent his days amusing the prince. Handsome as Pan An, he had countless young ladies fawning over him, but he remained nonchalant and in control.
Yet not long after Wanniang arrived in the capital, rumors about his peculiar tastes began to spread like wildfire.
Soon, the number of women flocking around Shen Xiaoqing had dwindled by more than half.
When Wanniang heard, her cherry-red lips curved into a faint smile.
*
One day, Shen Xiaoqing stopped her by the road she often took. For once, he wasn't nonchalant. He ordered her to return to her hometown at once and never come to the capital again.
She gave a soft laugh. "What gives you the right to order me around?"
His tall figure loomed over her. He put on the fierce look he used when scolding little girls. "Because I'm your brother, damn it!"
She gave him a meaningful glance. "Does an older brother who abandoned me still count as one?"
His expression didn't change. "...Why wouldn't he?" But the fingertips hidden in his sleeve trembled uncontrollably.
After all these years, the word "Brother" was still the most sensitive chord in his heart.
Late one night, Shen Xiaoqing came home exhausted once again.
He had yet to change out of his bloodstained riding clothes when he saw a light on in the side room. Wanniang had moved into his house.
He shouted at her to leave. She glanced over him and smiled. "Didn't you say you were my brother? Then when I get married, this should be my family home."
Shen Xiaoqing's temples throbbed. The next day, he started looking for a place for her to move into.
But day after day, Wanniang found one fault or another with every house Shen Xiaoqing found.
Gradually, Shen Xiaoqing stopped trying to drive her out and began staying home whenever he had free time.
Wanniang would sit in the shade reading, wash clothes, and hum to herself. Whenever she looked up, she would catch him staring at her.
"Brother, do you like watching me?" she asked with a smile.
He turned his face away. "...You're taking up my shade and making my copper basin dirty."
One day, a female opera singer who liked Shen Xiaoqing came to his house and laughingly offered to read his palm.
Wanniang glided in, wrapped in Shen Xiaoqing's oversized outer robe, her wet black hair dripping water.
"Brother Xiaoqing, I've drawn you a bath," she said quietly.
The opera singer blushed, slapped Shen Xiaoqing, and stormed off.
Shen Xiaoqing's face turned ashen as he demanded to know what Wanniang was trying to do.
Wanniang blinked. "That woman wasn't good enough for you, Brother. I sent her on her way. No need to thank me."
One after another, every woman who came to his door was "sent on her way."
Shen Xiaoqing could take it no longer. He grabbed Wanniang, whose hair was still wet, and pulled her into his arms. The harsh words on his lips never came. Instead, he couldn't help leaning toward her cherry-red lips.
Wanniang held him back. "Shen Xiaoqing, what are you doing?"
The man breathed heavily. "Isn't this what you wanted?"
A kiss suppressed for too long was like the first sip of fresh water after a long drought. It simply wouldn't stop.
At last, Wanniang covered his lips with a gold-edged invitation. She watched the intoxication fade from his eyes, leaving them dry as ink, cracking layer by layer.
"The prince's marriage proposal arrived today," she said, studying him calmly.
His eyes were bloodshot. He gave a cold, gritted laugh. "Fine. You've climbed to a high branch, so why are you still hanging around at my place?"
Wanniang picked up her bundle and walked out without a care. "You're my brother. You'll have to come on my wedding day."
A moment later, a cacophony of crashing sounds came from the room. Shen Xiaoqing chased after her, one shoe missing, his lips trembling and bleeding.
"Who the hell wants to be your brother?"
*
Now middle-aged, Wanniang often thought back to her childhood.
She remembered the young boy feeding her the last of his flatbread, his stomach growling.
She remembered being feverish and dazed on his back as he trudged through the snow, each step sinking deep.
She turned over and pinched the man beside her on the pillow. Smiling, she said, "Shen Xiaoqing, you owe me. I'll let you spend your whole life making it up to me."
👉 Not-related siblings | Reunion after years apart | Alluring beauty x stubborn, devoted older brother | Bittersweet and sweet
Note: Happy ending, both chaste, no blood relation. The heroine doesn't know for a certain period. The heroine was nearly of age when the hero left, and not yet twenty when they reunited.
The hero has no peculiar tastes.
(This blurb's original version was published on 2026.10.22. Evidence has been preserved and timestamped on social media.)
Theme: Family by blood, lovers without it
