I Had a Baby with My Brother's Archrival

A bold, sweet village girl / A seemingly proper, actually ruthless and calculating crown prince / A seemingly gentle, actually twisted and ruthless eunuch brother A teacher moved in next door, and Yu Nong took an interest in him at first sight. She had never met a man like him. Frost and snow seemed to linger in his eyes, yet he was also as refreshing as a spring breeze. With books in hand, he walked along the field paths like an immortal in a painting. She brought him tofu, borrowed his oil-paper umbrella, and fell into his arms, growing bolder each time. He remained cold and distant. When she touched his sleeve, he took half a step back. When she offered him wine, he accepted it but never drank. When the county magistrate's son tried to take her as a concubine, she cornered the man at his door, eyes red, and asked if he would marry her. After a long silence, he rasped, “Wait for me to come back.” She thought he was brushing her off and spun around, furious. A few days later, the county magistrate's son was hit by a runaway horse and died on the spot. After that, a matchmaker came to her door by day, and he climbed over the wall into her room at night. He was drenched from head to toe, but his gaze burned alarmingly hot. “Don't look at other men.” “I will if I want to. Mmm...” Only when his kiss landed did she realize how hard someone had worked to keep up the act of a gentleman. He kept the hairpin she'd dropped hidden in his room. The book she'd touched was nearly worn out from how often he'd read it. The moment she left, he'd clutch the teacup she'd drunk from until it grew warm in his hands. It wasn't that he didn't care. He was waiting for her to put herself within his reach. But a woman's heart is like a child's face: it can change in an instant. With tears in her eyes, Yu Nong pushed him away. “My brother is no use to the family anymore. They're counting on me, so I have to take in a husband.” Huai Zhen didn't care in the least. He pulled her struggling body into his arms, kissing and clinging to her. “Whether we have children, and how many, is up to you.” After years away from home, her brother finally returned and looked the man over with a smile. “My sister is willful. I'll leave her in your care.” The man returned a courteous salute. “Having a wife like her is my good fortune.” Each of them was a better actor than the other. After nightfall, one urgent secret letter was sent to the capital, and another to the border troops. The messages differed, but both carried the same meaning: kill. The next day, both letters were intercepted. The two men traded blows from afar several times, then sat down together with smiles to eat tofu pudding. One thought: This man has to die, but I can't let my sister see any blood. The other thought: Taking his life would be easy. The hard part is explaining to her later where her brother went. Then one day, Yu Nong suddenly fainted, and both her husband and brother changed color. Yu Nong had just one flaw in life: her eye for men was too good. The man she'd chosen was the long-missing former crown prince, and the brother she'd been waiting for was the notorious Director of the Eastern Depot. Neither wanted to lose, and both instinctively kept their knives hidden behind their backs, unable to bear the thought of seeing her cry. To make matters worse, the devoted husband was about to become a father, and the overprotective brother was about to become an uncle. Yu Nong placed their hands together. “Our whole family has to be happy and safe!” The two men lowered their eyes and answered, “All right.” How to kill the other without a sound, without a trace, and without him ever knowing was a difficult problem. Reader's Guide: Both leads are sexually inexperienced; they flirt and bait each other. The hero turns into a lovesick puppy, and the romance is lively and playful~ Theme: True love can conquer all, even mountains and seas