[On hiatus. I'll continue after finishing the first book. The title may change, but the other settings will stay the same.]
Shen Xu has a younger brother.
In her eyes, her little brother has always been sweet and well-behaved.
Like a pristine white flower.
He is handsome, gentle, and embodies every virtue...
Until this beautiful little brother frightens her to death.
It turns out Shen Liansheng isn't a delicate white flower. He murders his brothers and father, destroys his ancestors and betrays his teachers, and leaves the whole city steeped in bloodshed. He's twisted to the core.
Wiping the blood from his hands, he shows her the corpses he has carefully arranged and smiles. "Elder Sister, do they look nice?"
...Nice my ass.
Shen Xu rolls her eyes inwardly, then remembers that she was born into a family of villains, where good fortune is never in the cards.
So, given a second life, she decides to turn over a new leaf and start afresh. And...
She'll use Shen Liansheng to escape this family.
*
Shen Xu knows Shen Liansheng doesn't trust her. He pretends to be close to her only to find out what she's after.
But she doesn't mind, because she knows Shen Liansheng also plans to use her against the Shen family. They're simply using each other.
That's fine. In the end, they'll each get what they want and leave each other alone.
So she opens a shop, gets engaged, and goes on to live a happy life.
On her wedding day, Shen Xu, dressed in her phoenix coronet and bridal robes, waves breezily and tells Shen Liansheng to leave.
She doesn't notice the white camellia clenched tightly in the young man's hand, its stem piercing his palm and burrowing deep into his flesh.
Halfway along the route, the sedan chair crashes to the ground. Shen Xu loses her balance and hears the clash of blades outside.
She's about to get out and investigate when a pale hand lifts the curtain.
No one could have imagined that Shen Liansheng would dare to abduct the bride. He stops the sedan chair halfway along the road and kills everyone in the wedding procession.
He wears a robe stained red, trailing blood all along the road behind him, with corpses strewn across the hills. The bloodied tip of his sword lifts her veil, traces her features, then slides from the tip of her nose down to her throat.
Shen Xu catches the scent of blood.
As she trembles, the young man grips the back of her neck. He turns the blade and holds it against his own throat.
With the cold sword and a fresh streak of blood against his neck, he smiles. His hoarse voice trembles, and his eyes are nearly crazed. "Would you like to taste my blood? It's much better than your wedding wine."
Shen Xu is too frightened to move. Panicking, she says, "...Put the sword down!"
His gentle facade falls away. Blood and flesh show in his cut palm as he tucks the bloodied white camellia beside Shen Xu's ear and smooths her disheveled hair. "All right."
"Your taste in men is terrible, Elder Sister. How about marrying someone else?"
Shen Xu is furious. "You wouldn't dare!"
Shen Liansheng speaks softly, a smile in his voice, right by her ear. "Why wouldn't I dare?"
After all, he's not her biological brother.
* He can act like a sweet puppy, but he's truly no good. Please don't get your hopes up about him.
Shen Xu: "Hearing him call me Elder Sister makes my heart ache."
Theme: How dare you underestimate my love.
