Washed Cherry Blossoms

By day, Yingning was the personal maid her mother had brought with her when she married into a powerful family, specifically to care for her during her pregnancy.

At night, she was locked in a dark, airless Buddhist shrine, trembling as she bit down on her pillow. She cried until her eyes were red and her face streaked with tears.

Then came the winter banquet. The wind howled, the clouds hung low, and fine snow fell all over her. Holding her aching face where someone had struck her, she looked at him through tear-blurred eyes.

Because the second young master had been getting handsy with her, the third young master asked their mother to give her to him. Yingning was dragged into their quarrel and suffered for it.

Cui Zhuo swept her with a cold glance, his words sharp as a blade. "She's just a maid. Do you two really have to fight in front of everyone and turn against each other?"

Impatiently turning his thumb ring, he rested it casually on the table. "This troublemaker is to be confined."

Her face turned deathly pale with fright. She wasn't afraid of being confined. She was afraid of the wanton humiliation Cui Zhuo would inflict on her.

*

After the Cui family acknowledged her as their stepdaughter, Yingning thought that the eldest young master was now her brother. Surely he wouldn't force himself on her.

Her childhood sweetheart Shen Du, with whom she shared a mutual affection, arrived in the capital. Yingning was overjoyed, eagerly awaiting the day they could discuss marriage and wed.

But as she stole a kiss from Shen Du, she happened to look up and see his eyes dark with fury. Her heart sank. Trembling, she quickly looked away.

That night, she knelt before the Buddha statue while he gripped her chin and touched her with casual indifference. "Your mother wants to use your marriage as a bargaining chip to save your younger brother's life."

"Marry that old man, or come with me. You choose." For days, he had watched Yingning make a fool of herself, fawning over Shen Du. She was so naive as to think she would ever get to marry someone and leave.

Bonus scene:

After the Cui family's stepdaughter died unexpectedly, nobody knew that the eldest young master had acquired a mistress in the house he had prepared.

She had no way out anymore. All she could do was let him have his way with her.

Cui Zhuo was quite pleased with this arrangement. He thought that if she behaved herself, then after she had a child, there would be no harm in taking her as a concubine.

But for all his careful calculations, Cui Zhuo never expected her to refuse to bear his child. After leaving a final letter, she resolutely jumped into the sea.

For the first time, Cui Zhuo learned what it felt like to lose control. Without a second thought, he jumped in after her. "You'll never get rid of me, not in this life."

Fragile white flower x cold stepbrother

First drafted on 24.7.27 (new as of 10.26)

Theme: The self-restrained fall, and the controlled lose control