My brother, long unappreciated by women, finally met someone who appreciated him—and it was a man. How unfair the heavens were. I didn’t dare ask more, fearing I might push him towards the path of male love. But my brother seemed to have opened a floodgate, beginning to talk endlessly about their interactions.
According to his account, Xue Yin was originally a person with a strange character, difficult to approach. After coming to the Hanlin Academy, he always insisted on being a loner, not getting close to his colleagues, and only barely maintaining a pleasant demeanor with his elder brother. Later, they agreed to drink together at the official residence, with the elder brother cooking a few side dishes. Xue Yin highly praised his elder brother’s culinary skills and sighed, “Any girl who marries you as a wife would be incredibly fortunate.”
I guessed that Xue Yin felt his elder brother’s kindness and gradually became immersed in imagining himself as the elder brother’s wife.
After patiently listening to his elder brother’s rambling, I cautiously asked a rather sharp question: If Xue Yin was truly a “broken sleeve” and had feelings for him, what did he plan to do? The elder brother hesitated for a long time before finally saying, “I will help him return to the right path.”
So I suggested that he tell Xue Yin he already has a fiancée and then tentatively ask if he has any girl he likes.
The elder brother thought this plan was good and actually implemented it. A few days later, he came back dejected, saying Xue Yin had pressed him to reveal which family his fiancée was from. Unable to lie, the elder brother stammered and couldn’t continue. Xue Yin apparently saw through this and didn’t expose him, but was clearly unhappy.
I came up with another idea: have the elder brother take Xue Yin to a courtesan house and have some beautiful girls serve wine. After an internal struggle, the elder brother finally nodded under the belief of “helping Xue Yin return to the right path.”
A few days later, the elder brother returned looking gray and dejected.
