[Gentle, dignified noblewoman × scheming, manipulative, brooding man]
Lou Manshuang was the model noblewoman of the capital: courteous, modest, and praised by everyone.
No one knew that every night, after she blew out the candle, the younger brother she'd picked up as a child would slip barefoot and silently into her bedroom.
The boy loved to curl up beside her bed, his voice trembling.
"Sister, I had a nightmare."
He always had endless excuses: he was afraid of thunder, his head hurt, or he'd dreamed of his late mother.
Softhearted, Lou Manshuang let him curl up beside her again and again, where he would sleep until dawn.
*
Lou Manshuang had always thought that although her younger brother had suffered a tragic fate, he was noble and clear-hearted.
That was until she was about to be betrothed.
On the day the refined and gentle third-place scholar came to call, Lou Zaiqing accidentally knocked over a teacup, spilling scalding tea over his hand.
He looked up, his eyes rimmed red, and gave Lou Manshuang a sweet smile. "Sister, it doesn't hurt."
After that, her marriage prospects repeatedly ran into trouble.
When she went flower-viewing with another young gentleman, he fell into the water.
When she went on an outing with another, their carriage always met with an accident.
When she discussed a betrothal with another, scandalous revelations about him came to light.
And whenever she was disappointed and downcast, Lou Zaiqing was always by her side.
She grew suspicious and asked whether he was secretly behind it all.
The boy's eyes immediately reddened, and tears streamed down his face.
"Sister, you really think that of me?"
He lowered his head and choked back a sob.
"If you truly can't stand me, I'll leave the Lou family tomorrow. I won't get in your way."
Lou Manshuang's heart wavered. In the end, she softened, just as she always had, and wiped away his tears.
She didn't see the triumphant smile on the boy's lips as he leaned against her shoulder.
*
Lou Zaiqing had been born knowing how to disguise himself.
In public, he was a sweet and obedient adopted younger brother.
In private, he was a hunter laying his plans one step at a time.
By day, he was too ill to get out of bed, just so Lou Manshuang would worry and come visit him.
At night, he stood before a room full of portraits, his fingers stroking an old hairpin she'd accidentally lost. His gaze was obsessed, with not a trace of illness in sight.
The beaded curtain rattled. He spun around and met a pair of astonished eyes. An utterly innocent smile blossomed on his face.
"You've seen everything, Sister? Then you'll have to keep it secret for me."
Lou Manshuang's face finally turned cold. "That's enough."
But he pinned her against the desk, years of obsession surging in his eyes.
"Sister, are you going to abandon me?"
You mustn't.
Theme: The oppression of rigid social norms, and breaking free of their shackles.
