Stealing Dai

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Blurb:

Jiang Daiyi accidentally transmigrated into a book as an assassin, arriving at the Yun residence under the false identity of a daughter of the Yun family. As a spy, she had to keep gathering intelligence about the Yun family to stay alive.

Fortunately, the seven years she spent nervously keeping up her disguise went surprisingly smoothly.

She had an older brother in the Yun residence, the Yun family's eldest son, Yun Qin. He was noble and magnanimous, devoted to helping the people and bringing them peace, as pure and unsullied as the moonlight.

He was a man of great virtue, always dignified and refined.

Her brother believed she truly was the younger sister he had gone to great lengths to find after she had been missing for years.

So he treated her with the utmost tenderness, always protecting and favoring her, keeping her safe.

But all she wanted was to use Yun Qin's influence to overthrow the person controlling her and regain her freedom.

Besides, she wasn't really of the Yun family's bloodline. If anything went wrong, it would be best to leave as soon as she had achieved her goal.

Fortunately, everything went as she wished.

But just as she was preparing to leave, her false identity was suddenly exposed.

Inside the Yun residence, mourning drapes hung from the funeral canopy, spirit banners fluttered, and the memorial tablet of the real Yun family daughter stood on a raised platform.

Terrified, her face drained of color. She ignored the maids trying to stop her and tried to flee.

Then she saw Yun Qin emerge from a corridor. He approached at an unhurried pace, composed, with a cool smile on his face. "If you won't stay here, where do you plan to go?"

*

The world revered Yun Qin, treating him like a savior. But they didn't know that the year the Yun family nearly suffered total annihilation, his heart had already been gnawed at by the world, and begun to rot within.

When he was young, he met Jiang Daiyi while suffering the pain of losing his sister. She comforted him: "How about I be your little sister?"

He took her seriously, but later she forgot all about it. After using him, she even intended to abandon him.

Even her farewell was painfully blunt: "Thank you, Brother, for taking care of me all these years. Now that Miss Yun has returned to her roots, I should leave."

She had come to take advantage of his influence, and now wanted to leave the same way.

But did she really think things could be that easy?

Later, beneath the white silk curtains, the beauty trembled in fear. She looked like snow gathered beneath the moon, with a slender waist and elegant hair, every glance captivating.

She was the one he had coveted for so long.

He wrapped his arms around her trembling body and brushed away the tears at the corners of her eyes, kissing her tenderly. "Little sister, you stir my heart. Why are you afraid to enter my cage?"

She should have understood from the moment she began thinking of escape.

If she borrowed his influence, she would have to bear the consequences.

*

My little sister is hard to coax, and her rebellious streak is hard to tame. Then I'll draw her into my palm and keep her confined in a tower. From then on, we will share the mornings and evenings, the spring and autumn, and all the years to come.

PS:

1. Both are virgins. Alternate setting, happy ending.

2. The forced pursuit and possession come later in the story.

3. The male lead knows from the beginning that she isn't his real sister.

4. The leads are not related by blood. Nothing improper happens before their relationship under the rites is dissolved.

5. "She looked like snow gathered beneath the moon" is from the Song dynasty work Ha Lu Sui Shi, section "Emperors and Empresses."

Content warning: Not a strong female lead story; the heroine is not powerful.

Thanks to the cover artist Chees Tang for the character art, Qing He for the background flowers, and Bu Ge for the design.

Blurb excerpted on 2024.4.19, with major revisions.

Preview of Stealing Yu:

Zheng Yu accidentally became bound to a transmigration System and turned into a pancake-selling NPC with the script in hand.

The only way she could return to the real world was to help the male lead of the book conquer the realm.

One day, while she was selling pancakes, a man reined in his horse before her stall. His fine steed and ornate saddle, along with his distinguished bearing, made him stand out.

Zheng Yu recognized him: Xie Zhao, a rising star at court. In recent years, he had achieved remarkable things: controlling droughts, treating plagues, combating locusts, investigating floods, and advising the emperor on how to turn the tide at the border, driving back an enemy state whose soldiers were renowned for their skill in warfare. He was at the height of his fame.

Still focused on rolling the dough in her hands, Zheng Yu lost her usual warmth toward customers. "My lord doesn't look like someone who enjoys pancakes."

Xie Zhao looked down at her from his horse for a long moment. Suddenly, he reached out and firmly grasped her hand, slick with pancake grease, lifting her onto his horse in one swift motion. His voice was gentle:

"You helped me achieve such great things and rise to prominence. I would never dare betray you, even at the risk of a thousand deaths."

At his words, Zheng Yu looked up at him from the horse. This was Xie Zhao, the male lead in the book. She could never have imagined that one day, for the sake of another woman, he would repay her kindness with betrayal. Holding a bowl of poison, he would still smile at her as gently as ever and say, "A Yu, drink your medicine."

Amid a storm of danger and a desperate flight, Zheng Yu was forced to hide in an ancient temple.

Inside the meditation room, candlelight flickered beside an old Buddha. A man sat beside a low table. Seeing the disheveled woman burst in, he could neither drink nor set down the rough tea in his hand.

Zheng Yu recognized the man at the table: Song Junsui, the book's second male lead. She had been the one to arrange for him to be imprisoned in this ancient temple. When she had dealt with him before, she had left him no room to recover. Running into him now was bad news.

But with an arrow already on the string, she had no choice but to make a deal with the devil. "Young Master Song, let's set aside our grievances for now and make a deal."

The candlelight dimmed the room, and she couldn't read his expression. Just as she was about to offer more bargaining chips, she heard him answer with what sounded like a sigh: "All right."

Song Junsui, the legitimate son of the Grand Secretary, was as lofty as a lone pine and as handsome as a jade statue. He came from a family of great distinction.

But he was not free to do as he pleased. Every day was spent between killing people and helping his father consolidate power. It was utterly dull.

Then one day, on the long street, he saw the girl who sold pancakes day after day. She was bright and lively as spring. Did she ever find selling pancakes every day dull?

Song Junsui didn't know, but his numb, listless heart finally stirred with a strange ripple.

She loved someone else, and he wanted to become the new person she loved.

The meditation room at Wuwang Temple housed two people with the most deluded desires.

Their robes and skirts lay tangled across the floor. The candlelight was dim, and faint sighs could be heard.

Holding her in his arms, her dark brows knit, breath ragged, and sobs quiet, Song Junsui softly coaxed her: "Be good. How about we kill Xie Zhao?"

She whimpered her agreement, and he laughed with satisfaction.

Only then did Zheng Yu realize that the faint sigh Song Junsui had let out in the meditation room before had been one of satisfaction.

May I shed the burdens of a lifetime of sin, steal the spring light that cannot be stolen, redeem myself, and keep her safe.

PS:

1. Happy ending. Both are virgins.

2. The old flame is not rekindled. The second male lead takes the lead in the romance, with two men competing for the heroine.

3. The heroine is bound by the System's rules. Breaking them will bring severe backlash from the System.

Blurb excerpted on 2025.10.18, with revisions.

Theme: What your heart yearns for is precious and should be cherished