In the first year of Fengyuan, the new emperor ascended the throne and slaughtered every corrupt official, elder minister, and member of the imperial clan.
Everyone said the young emperor was deranged and cruel, devoid of all humanity.
By that logic, the only princess left in the imperial family, the young emperor's own sister, was surely doomed as well.
Cheng Li thought so too.
So, on the eve of the new emperor's selection of consorts, she took advantage of the lax security as the candidates entered the palace and slipped out through the gates for the first time in her life, fleeing without a backward glance. But disaster struck along the way. Someone framed her, and through a twist of fate, she ended up among the candidates.
Cheng Li was so terrified that she didn't dare say a word, afraid her imperial brother would expose her on the spot.
But the man on the throne merely watched her with amusement, his long, narrow eyes full of interest.
Perhaps as punishment for running away, she became one of her imperial brother's consorts.
But she thought that, after all, they were siblings, and the whole thing had been a misunderstanding.
If she could explain things to her imperial brother, perhaps she could obtain permission to leave the palace.
But she felt that things were slowly becoming strange.
Not only did she fail to become her imperial brother's sister again,
for some reason, he began spending every night in her chambers, and whenever she was trembling with fear, he would smile cruelly and ask:
"When does my little sister plan to attend to me?"
*
Cheng Heyang thought that killing this fake princess, whom the late emperor had picked up from a crowd of beggars, would only dirty his hands.
He had never cared about this so-called little sister. He gave her a title merely to amuse himself and watch the show.
But later, when the day finally came for him to promise to let her leave...
The young man stood tall amid a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood, casually shaking droplets of blood from his sword.
Warm blood ran down his cold, pale cheeks, but he paid it no heed. His eyes held only Cheng Li.
"A-Li, you said you don't like the imperial harem, so your brother will dismantle it. Stay by your brother's side and be good, all right?"
*
P.S. They are not biological siblings. Includes palace intrigue and coercive romance.
Theme: Love yourself and others
