A Poor Scholar Becomes a Chancellor, and the Great Ming's Most Devoted Husband

“Old Xu, do you want a wife?” Xu Heng transmigrates to the Jiajing era with three ramshackle tiled rooms and twelve copper coins to his name. The village head next door brings him a girl fleeing famine and asks if he’s willing to marry her. She says yes. A bowl of plain noodles, two red candles, and they bow to Heaven and Earth. They’re truly poor. He studies for the exams while she embroiders to support the family. Together, they turn hard times sweet, and he vows to earn her an official title. But Changzhou County is a deep pool. The Gu family has declared that she won’t be able to do embroidery work there, and people say the top spot in the county exam has already been decided. Xu Heng clasps her hand tightly. “You just keep embroidering. Leave the rest to me.” Who says a scholar’s brush and an embroiderer’s needle can’t pierce the heavens? A warm, everyday farming-and-exams story about a couple standing together, rising from a broken-down cottage all the way to the imperial palace. No angst or injustice, just a heartwarming romance that’s a joy to read.