[Gentle, honest concubine-born daughter x sinister hypocrite brother-in-law]
[Abduction and coercion / The long road to winning her back / Brother-in-law romance]
Jiang Wantang was born to a concubine. Her father refused to acknowledge her, her mother died young, and only her elder sister truly treated her well. On the day her sister married, she cried until her eyes were red.
As they were parting, her sister clasped her hand and whispered in her ear, "A-Tang, change into these clothes and come with me."
From then on, she concealed her identity and went with her sister to marry into a prince's residence.
The first time she saw him, he was standing beside her sister, gathering the cloak around her shoulders. He was as warm and polished as jade, as refined as bamboo. Jiang Wantang lowered her eyes, nearly biting through her lip.
Fate had played a cruel trick... The face she'd pictured in her dreams countless times was now right before her, yet all she could do was lower her head and call him "Brother-in-law."
She told herself that it was enough to watch from afar, as long as her sister was happy.
*
But one night, someone pushed open her door from outside.
Her brother-in-law, the faint smell of wine about him, touched her slender neck. "Without anyone to protect you in this household, how will you survive?"
The first time, she thought it was nothing but drunken folly.
But then there was a second time, and a third...
In front of others, he remained elegant and proper, attentive to her sister and considerate in every way. At night, the long, jade-like fingers that had served her sister medicinal food by day would slip coolly inside her collar, toying with her wantonly.
He would lower his eyes and cover her mouth, whispering in her ear, "Keep your voice down. Have some shame. Do you want your sister to hear?"
She spent night after night in torment. At last, she summoned the courage to tell her sister everything. Instead, her sister nearly coughed up blood when she heard.
"There's nothing wrong with falling in love when you're young," her sister advised, her pale lips curling into a bitter smile as she gripped her wrist. "But he is absolutely not a suitable match for you."
Jiang Wantang wasn't convinced. She thought, if her brother-in-law said he would protect her, how could he have no feelings for her at all?
Until one day, she overheard her brother-in-law chatting with a close friend.
"Brother Shen, if you like her so much, why not take her as a concubine?"
"She's just a plaything I keep around for amusement. What makes her think she deserves a title?" His casual reply left her utterly heartbroken.
*
With her sister's help, she ran away.
She agreed on a whim to marry an admirer, thinking that this would end her nightmare. Marrying someone who loved her had to be better than continuing a hopeless relationship.
But on her wedding night, she saw with her own eyes her husband meeting his cousin in a rock garden, their feelings for each other plain to see.
Jiang Wantang fled the bridal chamber in a wretched state.
In the shadows beneath the corridor, her elegant, handsome brother-in-law was waiting for her, perfectly at ease.
He peeled away her bright red wedding dress inch by inch with his long fingers. Shen Yunshu stroked her tear-streaked face and chuckled. "See? I told you long ago that there's not a decent man out there."
Before her wedding dress was even fully removed, he gripped her slender waist and pressed her onto the bed. His wine-scented kiss fell on her trembling shoulder. "A-Tang, be good..."
"Who else would treat you this well, other than me?"
(P.S. The elder sister and brother-in-law have a fake marriage by contract, and she has a lover of her own. The brother-in-law is devoted to her alone, in both body and heart, from beginning to end. Read with caution if this bothers you!)
Reader advisory:
1. Gentle, honest concubine-born daughter x sinister hypocrite brother-in-law.
2. HE, SC. The sister and brother-in-law have no marriage certificate and aren't truly married. The sister has a lover of her own and has always had a good relationship with the female lead. The male lead is a bastard at first, but is devoted to her alone, in both body and heart, from beginning to end. Don't apply this to real life. Read with caution if this bothers you.
3. The dynasty is fictional, so please don't nitpick the historical details.
Theme: Clear-headed and independent, awake in a world where everyone else is drunk
