Why Does My Adoptive Brother Keep Making That Noise?

"Not related by blood" "Oblivious younger sister x scheming older brother" "Sweet romance"

"Complete, please leave a rating ovo"

"Upcoming novel: 'Pick Up a Poison Guard as My Consort'. Blurb at the bottom, please follow~"

Zhu Yuan's adoptive brother died when she was thirteen, leaving no remains.

But when she came of age, Zhu Yuan accompanied her father to the capital to attend a palace banquet.

Amid the glittering lights, she saw a refined, distinguished young man seated below the emperor.

His eyes were dark as ink, and the smile at his lips was gentle and faint. He looked exactly like her deceased adoptive brother.

But before she could say, "Brother," she heard a princess call him

Eldest Imperial Brother.

Only then did Zhu Yuan learn that he was the emperor's eldest legitimate son, Shen Zeqian.

He had never been her adoptive brother.

From beginning to end, she had been the one who took someone else's brother away.

-

When he was young, Shen Zeqian was sent to Yangzhou to secretly investigate a case, where he lived as the adopted son of Prefect Zhu.

The biggest change in his peaceful life was Prefect Zhu's youngest daughter, Zhu Yuan.

Playful and spoiled, she stuck to him every day like malt candy.

Dealing with a little girl like her should have been an easy, trivial matter for Shen Zeqian.

Yet, for some reason, the more time they spent together, the harder it became for him to look her in the eye.

Then one day, Zhu Yuan came down with a sudden fever and kissed him while half-asleep.

From that moment on, her bright almond eyes, rounded dimples, and soft, clinging voice appeared in his dreams again and again.

Only then did Shen Zeqian realize he'd never thought of her as his sister.

If she wasn't his sister... then there was no harm in letting her kiss him as many times as she liked.

-

Little Scene 1:

Shen Zeqian came down with a high fever, and Zhu Yuan couldn't stop worrying, so she went to visit him.

Her usually composed and proper adoptive brother leaned weakly against her shoulder, pale-faced, low, hoarse sounds escaping his throat and brushing against her neck with a tingling sensation.

Confused, she asked, "Brother, why do you keep making noises?"

Shen Zeqian, deliberately trying to tease her: ...

-

Little Scene 2:

Perhaps the capital was too cold. Shen Zeqian fell ill again.

Zhu Yuan made him a bowl of warming chicken soup with ginger and black-feathered chicken, then fed it to him herself.

But after finishing the bowl, Shen Zeqian still held her and wouldn't let go, rubbing his head against the hollow of her shoulder. It tickled even more than last time, making her ears burn.

Shen Zeqian secretly watched her reaction, thinking he'd made some progress.

Instead, he heard Zhu Yuan earnestly ask, "Brother, is your head itchy?"

Blurb archived on July 31, 2025

Reader's Guide:

1. The age gap is six and a half years. The male lead's dreams in the latter half take place after their reunion.

2. One-on-one romance, both leads are each other's first and only. The heroine has an arranged marriage to someone she dislikes. The male lead is completely inexperienced in every way, including his body, mind, and reputation. His Adam's apple is the focus.

3. I'll add more if I think of anything...

The completed novel in this series, "Fishing for Immortals", features a femme fatale who ensnares her prey x a shy, straight-laced man. Give it a try~

Please follow this upcoming novel, the next one in the series: "Pick Up a Poison Guard as My Consort". It's about Zhenzhen's best friend, Shen Chuling, and her sharp-tongued secret guard, Jiang Heyu. Blurb below:

"Gentle, proud princess x a sharp-tongued guard who doesn't mean what he says"

Princess Shen Chuling of Chaoyu fell in love at first sight with the man who saved her life.

The young man was so handsome he seemed almost otherworldly, with a vermilion mark between his brows and foxlike purple eyes.

The princess wanted him, so she got him, easily tying him up and bringing him back to the palace.

Only after bringing him back and seeing his cold expression did she remember that he was an assassin, not the kind of secret guard she wanted.

The little princess, bathing in milk, furrowed her brows. "If you can't be a secret guard, then there's only one role I can give you."

"You will be my male favorite."

The blindfolded youth scattered flower petals into her bathwater, silent with humiliation.

-

To recover his memories, Jiang Heyu pretended to be foolish and went back to the palace with Shen Chuling.

He thought he'd get some easy, casual job, but the princess waved a hand and appointed him as her secret guard, the kind who had to stay by her side all day and night.

The pampered princess was picky about everything and even had the audacity to demand that he give himself to her.

Jiang Heyu was sick of it, but there was nothing he could do.

Until one day, Shen Chuling held a portrait of her prospective consort and ordered him to leave the palace, her eyes filled with the shy delight of a bride-to-be.

Jiang Heyu suddenly regretted how ungrateful he'd been back then.

Being able to serve the princess was his good fortune.

Little Scene 1:

Shen Chuling thought her secret guard was good in every way except that he had a nasty way of speaking. Every other sentence was laced with barbs, and she worried that a single meeting of his lips would poison him to death.

One day, the little princess finally voiced the question she'd been wondering about. "Heyu, are you so sharp-tongued because you despise me?"

"But clearly, you do everything I say..."

Before she could finish, he popped one of her favorite pastries from the morning market into her mouth.

The secret guard, who'd gotten up before dawn to go to the market, turned his head away.

His earlobes were so red they were almost translucent.

Little Scene 2:

In the winter of Yongjia's twenty-fourth year, the new emperor of Beixuan came to pay his respects.

After years of hostility, the two countries had become allies. The unspoken proposal of a political marriage hung in the air.

But that night, amid the palace halls' glittering candlelight, the young emperor opened his solemn court robes, revealing pale skin beneath, golden beads and jade chains draped across his body.

He knelt before Princess Chaoyu, holding out the imperial seal with both hands and bowing reverently. "I have come for the princess."

"I beg to become the princess's lover."

Reader's Guide:

1. One-on-one romance, both leads are each other's first and only. The prospective consort mentioned in the blurb is a misunderstanding. The male lead's social roles change from assassin to secret guard to ruler of a neighboring kingdom. The secret guard portion is much longer than the other two.

2. Pure sweetness, no angst, with a bickering-couple dynamic. The male lead is sharp-tongued, but the only thing he says about the heroine is that she's delicate and pampered. He never says anything disrespectful or upsetting to her, and he always obeys her.

3. The heroine is the most doted-on princess, and she really is a little spoiled and unreasonable, but only a little. She's a lovely girl. The kidnapping mentioned in the blurb will be explained in the story. Both parties are willing, so please don't judge the protagonists' morality.

Theme: Loving yourself is the beginning of a lifelong romance