My Immortal Brother Schemes Against Me at Every Turn (Reborn)

[This story has been revised many times, so I can't guarantee that the pirated version will offer a good reading experience. I hope all of you lovelies will prosper just like the heroine!]

[The next story in the same series, "Living Under Someone Else's Roof, Yet Falling in Love," is a possessive romance with dog-training themes and a calculating, flirtatious heroine who grows over time. Updates have begun. Your bookmarks are the author's motivation!]

[An older brother who is self-disciplined, proper, and ascetic x a scheming, money-loving, flirtatious beauty of a younger sister who acts sweet and obedient]

Warning: The heroine has an ex, a first love, an ex-husband, a white moonlight, and a good friend in the present day. She has many male friends. The male lead starts off sitting on the judging panel, being picky about everyone, but later joins the fray himself and uses every trick in the book. Please check whether this is for you.

Blurb:

Shen Yuan, the sixth illegitimate daughter of the Duke's estate, was born to low status and looked down on by everyone. Yet she was the most promising of them all, rising from a low-ranking palace consort in the Eastern Palace to become an imperial consort.

But on the very day Shen Yuan was promoted to Noble Consort, her elder brother Shen Xuanchen entered through the Xuanwu Gate and shot the Emperor dead, sending her tumbling from the clouds into the mire, where she cut out her own heart and died.

Reborn at a time when the Duke's estate was on the brink of ruin, Shen Yuan turned the tide, arranged the funeral, drove off her despicable relatives, and prepared to cling tightly to her brother's coattails.

Her elder brother Shen Xuanchen had left home to cultivate from a young age. He was aloof and distant, with a deeply calculating nature, so Shen Yuan was already prepared for him to mold and reshape her as he pleased.

But when she fell seriously ill and was confined to bed, the first thing Shen Xuanchen said to her was, "Now that your elder brother has returned home, little sister, you can rest and recover in peace."

Shen Yuan: !!!

(Don't think I don't know you're scheming away in your heart!)

*

He had glimpsed the secrets of heaven in his youth. His sixth younger sister wasn't related to him by blood, but he was willing to protect her and give her a peaceful life.

He watched her fall for her cousin Xiao Zheng, treat Qi Shu differently, and share a familiarity with Crown Prince Chu Jian that was difficult to define.

She also formed a close partnership with a merchant, and was even willing to marry him beneath her station, all just to escape the Duke's estate.

Only with him was she trusting and respectful on the surface, while secretly guarding against him at every turn.

At first, Shen Xuanchen didn't understand. Later, he gradually found himself unable to tolerate anyone coveting her, and only then did he understand why he cared so much about every word and action of Yuan Niang.

A small sedan chair, three or five guests, a red wedding gown, and a pair of dragon-and-phoenix candles.

A jade ruyi lifted the red veil from Shen Yuan's face. Shen Xuanchen, usually so dignified and refined, was drunk. He said fiercely, "Shen Yuan, you are only allowed to be with me!"

*

One couple, both sexually inexperienced, pseudo-siblings. The male lead forces the relationship; the heroine will run away. A groveling arc and a rivalry for her affections. Happy ending.

Rivalry note: Everyone mentioned in the blurb will come to ask for her hand, and Shen Xuanchen will join the contest himself to defend his place.

Note: The romantic plot only begins after they clarify that they are not siblings.

-- [Next story] Another story in the same series: "Living Under Someone Else's Roof, Yet Falling in Love" --

Su Naiqi's father died taking a blade meant for Marquis Changyong Ren Zhangyong, and her mother killed herself to join him, leaving her all alone.

The marquis adopted her as his daughter and arranged for her to be betrothed to his legitimate eldest son, Ren Yingcheng. But after he died in battle, nobody in the Ren household mentioned the engagement again.

Su Naiqi was cautious and modest, never entertaining any delusions. She planned to wait until her coming-of-age ceremony, take her dowry, and leave the Ren household without getting in Madam Ren's way.

But the way heir Ren Yingcheng looked at her grew increasingly strange...

She hurriedly chose a husband: Wen Xun, a successful candidate in this year's imperial examinations. He came from a simple family, had good character, and was about to leave the capital to take up the post of county magistrate in Shangxin County.

They exchanged the betrothal gifts and completed the six wedding rites. With a proper match arranged by their families, she became Wen Xun's wife.

On their wedding night, beneath a pair of dragon-and-phoenix candles, a jade ruyi lifted the red veil from her face...

There stood Ren Yingcheng in red, tall and elegant, his eyes and brows full of determination to claim her.

Everyone said the Ren family treated their adopted daughter, Su, with great care. They had found a position for her husband in the capital and bought the couple a house near the Ren residence, making it convenient to look after them.

Who could know that the good older brother everyone praised, Ren Yingcheng, visited the Wen residence every night and kept Su Naiqi as his mistress?

*

Wen Xun divorced Su Naiqi, and she returned to the Ren residence as Miss Su, once more living under someone else's roof.

Only now, Ren Yingcheng no longer needed to pretend. He kept her imprisoned by his side, holding her as they slept night after night.

Su Naiqi found a chance to escape, but a landslide blocked her way. She struck her head on a rock and lost her sight, then met a reclusive miracle doctor named Lu Shenshi.

He said that he often treated the injured, which was why he always smelled of blood.

He said her eyes would be difficult to cure, and searched everywhere for rare remedies on her behalf...

He was refined and well-spoken, too. Su Naiqi began to fall for him, and they were married in a ceremony before heaven and earth.

But in bed, he was rough and uncouth, which gave her cause for complaint.

By day, however, he was gentle and considerate, caring for her in every way.

*

Lu Shenshi, the Embroidered Uniform Guard's commander, was a merciless killer, yet a peerless beauty was hidden away in his residence.

When Marquis Changyong Ren Yingcheng raided Lu's residence, boxes of gold, silver, jewels, silk, and satin were piled up in the beauty's courtyard.

And when Prince Fuling Wen Lanxi, who had been keeping a low profile in the palace, learned that Madam Lu was pregnant, he personally left the palace to demand that Ren Yingcheng hand her over...

In the Lu residence, the sheltered Madam, her eyes covered with silk, heard the clash of swords and turned around with a bright smile. "You're back, dear?"

The long sword fell from Ren Yingcheng's hand. The woman he had searched for across the world had appeared before him.

Marquis Changyong Ren Yingcheng, who forces the relationship; commander Lu Shenshi, a hypocrite; Prince Fuling Wen Lanxi, cold and unfeeling.

So Su Naiqi punishes all of them. She starts out delicate and weak, but has a character-growth arc.

Note: The heroine is not sexually inexperienced, but the male leads are. There will be scenes where the men suffer. The heroine will rise to power later on. The three men are not guaranteed to survive, so choose your favorite carefully.

The heroine has a rough time early on, but will stand strong later!

Theme: The protagonists must rely on themselves.