[Fake siblings / aloof beauty goes mad for love / coercive possessiveness later on / a tale of bitter regret] Novel blurb:
Everyone knew Princess Guangyi, Xiao Wanshuang, was a beauty carved from jade.
But no one knew she had a naturally perceptive heart, able to see straight through anyone in the time it takes to drink half a cup of tea.
Even fewer knew she had a secret crush she could never speak of.
He was her imperial brother, the crown prince, Xiao Dai.
At the desk, she nudged a teacup a little closer, her fingertips just brushing the wrist of the man holding the brush. Xiao Dai merely thanked her coolly, keeping his eyes on the desk and not sparing her even a sidelong glance.
At a palace banquet, she rose on tiptoe and leaned close to whisper to her imperial brother.
Xiao Dai only swept his wide sleeve aside and said blandly, “The palace gates will be locked at a quarter past seven. You should return to Lantai Palace.”
Even so, she couldn't help wanting to draw closer.
*
Xiao Dai had always thought of Xiao Wanshuang as a younger sister who needed his care. Seeing that she was growing up but still didn't know to keep her distance, he assumed she was simply naive.
Rumor had it that Lord Pei had long admired Princess Guangyi, and even their father, the emperor, intended to arrange a marriage. Knowing his sister had always detested the man, he paid the matter no mind.
Until one day, his sister actually accepted the proposal with delight.
He went to find her at once, only to see the notoriously short-tempered lord pinning her against the wall inside a room.
His sister suddenly rose on tiptoe and hooked an arm around the man's neck. Her dark hair tangled with the tassels of his silver crown. “Lord Pei, didn't you say… that you admired me?”
Xiao Dai's knuckles turned white. A scorching pain he'd never felt before surged in his chest. So it turned out he wasn't so aboveboard, either.
That night, the Eastern Palace blazed with candlelight. At last, he could take no more. Gripping her wrist, he pressed her against the desk. “Do you have to push me this far?”
*
As time passed, Xiao Wanshuang resolved to sever the attachment she'd carried for years, let go of her obsession, and slip quietly out of the picture. But when her husband was convicted and thrown in jail, her brother brought her back to the Eastern Palace.
Her once-gentle, jade-like brother now had turbulent shadows in his eyes, terrifying as a beast. She tried to flee in panic, but a figure blocked her way.
“Trying to leave?” Xiao Dai's fingertips were icy as they brushed over her disheveled hair. “Did you ask me first?”
*
Later, the new emperor ascended the throne, and the secrets of the inner palace came to light. Princess Guangyi, who had once been raised among commoners, might not have been the late emperor's daughter after all…
But the new emperor concealed the matter, keeping it secret.
That night, curtains swayed in a warm palace chamber.
The young woman in the bed reached out to push away the person before her, calling out in shame and anger, “Brother…”
“After all these years of calling me brother…” Before she could finish, Xiao Dai bent down and kissed her. Holding back the restraint he'd suppressed for so long, he spoke word by word: “Tonight, let's change what you call me.”
Reading notes:
1. Originally titled A Scheme for Spring. A gentle, complicated, scheming princess x a cool-headed, career-minded crown prince. Happy ending, both leads sexually inexperienced. They aren't actually siblings, and there is no romance between them while they still believe themselves to be siblings. The heroine knows from the beginning that she and the hero are not related by blood. The hero is career-minded, and the ending includes a harem in name only. In the extra chapters, he dismisses the harem and keeps only the heroine. Read with caution if this bothers you.
2. The story is mostly slice of life, with a slow start and few dramatic romantic entanglements. Expect bittersweet moments mixed with sweetness. The heroine pulls plenty of outrageous stunts, and once her brother is driven to madness, he gets slyly jealous and manipulative. Includes coercive possessiveness, but love ultimately triumphs over convention.
3. The dynasty is fictional, so please don't scrutinize it for historical accuracy.
Coming soon: Stealing Beauty. One-line pitch: After taking revenge on her scumbag husband, she becomes the target of a tool's coercive possessiveness. Novel blurb:
Crown Princess Shang Qiong was blessed with breathtaking beauty, but cursed with terrible luck.
Three years ago, she entered the Eastern Palace in a phoenix crown and wedding robes. But after her father was convicted, she became a disposable pawn.
The crown prince hated her for driving his beloved to her death.
Even courtesans could enjoy the crown prince's tenderness. She got nothing but a mocking sneer: “A criminal's daughter, and you think you deserve to be called my wife?”
Then one day, at a teahouse, Grand Tutor Xie Jiulan caught sight of her through a beaded curtain. The banked fire in his eyes set her spine ablaze.
That very day, she knocked on the vermilion gates of the Grand Tutor's residence and stood before him, dazed and lost. “The Crown Prince doesn't want Shang Qiong. Would Grand Tutor Xie?”
Xie Jiulan gazed at her for a long moment, a faint ripple in his eyes.
“If Your Highness wants to borrow my influence, you'll have to give me something sweet in return.”
*
From then on, secret fantasies lurked throughout the Eastern Palace.
When the crown prince went boating with his concubine during a hunting trip, she stole away for a tryst with Grand Tutor Xie in a pavilion. When the crown prince abandoned her in a brothel in the middle of the street, Grand Tutor Xie climbed into her carriage and shared the soft warmth of spring with her.
The most outrageous incident happened in the Eastern Palace bedchamber.
As the brocade curtains billowed, she suddenly heard the crown prince and his concubine laughing just outside. In a panic, she pushed at him. “My lord, let go!”
“Why panic? It's better if he hears us clearly…” Xie Jiulan didn't back away. Instead, he leaned close to her ear, his breath scorching, using the voices outside as cover.
“Let the Crown Prince judge for himself what it feels like to see his lawfully wedded crown princess in my arms.”
*
Everyone said the crown princess was low as dirt, never knowing she had long since become the Grand Tutor's cherished little bird, held in his palm.
But the Grand Tutor's immense power came tangled with debts of love.
For every taste of sweetness she took, she had to repay him with three times the burn.
Until one day, she leaned by the carved window of a teahouse, lost in thought as she watched the young master who managed the shop work an abacus at his desk.
He was Xie Jiulan's closest friend, and the man of her dreams.
Shang Qiong was still staring blankly when, behind the screen, Grand Tutor Xie glared at her with bloodshot eyes.
The next moment, he pinned her against a shrine. When she looked up, Xie Jiulan's face was dark with fury. Pointing at her heart, he demanded, “Your Highness wants me to be your blade…”
“How dare you give that heart to someone else?”
Theme: Enjoy life while you can.
After reading this book, I couldn't calm down for a long time. What affected my emotions was not the male and female protagonists, but the second male lead, Mr. Pei. He is not a good person in the traditional sense. He has a tough and rude personality and has rebellious ambitions. However, until the last moment, he was still reluctant to hurt the heroine. He even considered carefully and arranged everything for her in advance to protect her from safe escape. In the end, he was killed by random arrows. I often think that if I want to be a villain, I might as well be completely bad, why should I keep a soft heart in front of her. The heroine's calmness and determination also made me sigh with emotion. Everyone can blame Lord Pei: the hero can hate him for coveting the country, and his men can blame him for bringing about the war that has caused people to be displaced. But for the heroine, even if he starts a rebellion, he will never be willing to hurt her in the slightest. But when she saw with her own eyes the moment he fell after being hit by an arrow, the heroine showed no trace of wavering or intolerance from beginning to end. Perhaps she loves the male protagonist more than anything else. When Mr. Pei stands on the opposite side of her lover, she cannot feel compassion; if she loves herself the most, she may still be grateful for this generous kindness. The heroine and the hero are the same type of people, not related by blood, but they are equally intelligent, transparent, and gentle towards others, but they both have an unshakable cruelty hidden in their hearts, which fits the saying that pitiful beauties always have a bad fate, and the most ruthless emperor's family. She is a rare smart person who grew up in a native background. She has not been reborn or traveled through time. She seems to be born with a deep understanding of the rules of survival within the palace walls. After reading this, I wanted to give up the article for a while. It's not that the story is not well written, but it's just that I can't let go of the heroine's almost cold sobriety. I saw the IF line belonging to Mr. Pei in the catalog and continued reading. This branch line made me feel really happy. It does not forcefully change the heroine's mind and force her to achieve perfection with Master Pei. The heroine's heart still belongs to the hero, but there is a slightly different possibility: she is aware of all his efforts, and there is no need to fall in love. She just gives him a hint of favoritism and a consideration without love. During the early reading, I always wondered why Mr. Pei was always harsh in his words and unable to be gentle with each other. Only later did I understand that all the patience and gentleness of the female protagonist were always reserved for the male protagonist. His thoughts were so sad. If he couldn't get love, it would make her hate him. As long as he could leave a place in her heart, it would be enough. This was the first time that I shed tears for a supporting character. I couldn't tell whether his ending was his own fault or whether it was a pity. He has his sins, the war started because of him, his ambition caused countless people to suffer, and the accusations from others are justified; but the clumsy and desperate sincerity that is only given to the heroine is so real that it touches the heart. The most disappointing thing is that this one-way journey is destined to have no end from the beginning. He clearly knows that there will be no reward, but he still risks everything to get that little attention. The precious thing about the IF line is that it doesn't have to forcefully rewrite everyone's fate, and it doesn't have to force love to be perfect. It just allows Mr. Pei to survive, and allows the two to put aside their opposition and have the opportunity to open their hearts and talk. There is no need to get love, it just means that his heavy heart can be properly seen and caught. We feel sad for such a supporting character, not because we think he doesn't deserve to die, nor because we think the heroine owes him, but because we feel sorry for the desperate love hidden under the sharp shell.
[Purple sugar] kswl [orange candy] I got it [Purple sugar] kswl [orange candy] I got it
Ending of "Spring on the Pillow" 🎆 See [Spreading Flowers]
From now on, your surname will be Xiao. Not only can you be a princess, but you can also be a queen. Hehe