[Gentle, seductive cousin x outwardly cold but warm-hearted, paternal cousin x obsessive, coercive mad dog]
Jiang Shuning was born as beautiful and alluring as peach and plum blossoms, and was renowned throughout Shu as a great beauty.
After her father died in battle, her grandfather wanted to give Shuning to a high-ranking official as a concubine.
With no way to fight back, Shuning could only flee with her mother to her maternal relatives and seek their protection.
But it would reflect poorly on the family if a married-out daughter returned home, so her aunt tried to turn mother and daughter away.
Fortunately, Shuning's maternal grandmother was still alive and managed to let them stay at the residence.
But her grandmother was growing old, and her health was worsening by the day.
Shuning knew this could not go on forever.
After much thought, she finally turned her attention to her two cousins.
Her eldest cousin, Qi Chengyuan, had always been as noble and refined as the moonlight, and was a favorite before the emperor. He was also the clear choice to become the next head of the Qi family.
Her second cousin, Qi Chengduo, was aloof, proud, sharp-tongued, and unfeeling. He commanded the Imperial Guard and was his aunt's favorite.
Shuning liked her eldest cousin, the gentlemanly one, and disliked her second cousin, who was arrogant and heartless.
So she went to her eldest cousin, with a plan in mind.
That night, her eldest cousin lifted her onto the desk in his study and trapped her between his arms, staring at her with burning eyes.
"Since Ningning has come to me for help, does she know which of us she should choose, Chengduo or me?"
Shuning stared at the obsessive, sinister man before her and broke out in a cold sweat.
This was nothing like the gentle, refined eldest cousin she knew. He was a demon crawling up from hell.
Jiang Shuning jolted awake and realized that everything she had just seen was only a dream.
She clutched her chest and had just begun to breathe a sigh of relief when she suddenly heard a violent banging at the door.
Her second cousin, drunk, was shouting madly from outside.
"Cousin, Big Brother is dead. From now on, no one will come between us again."
Reading Guide:
1. A romance between cousins, set in a fictional dynasty.
2. The male lead is completely devoted, in both body and heart, to one person. He is pure and unsullied.
3. It's 1v2 at first, but later the heroine will be with only one of her cousins! (Though the author would be happier than anyone if the three of them could make a good life together.)
Theme: Pursue what is good and hold fast to your true self
