The Number One Scholar's Diary of Chasing His Wife

Feng Meiyu’s first half of life was a clichéd tale of a woman regretting that she had pushed her husband to pursue high office.

She had been ambitious since childhood, dreaming of becoming a noblewoman with an imperial title, but unfortunately, she married a hopeless mess.

Later, she managed to turn that mess into someone respectable. Everyone who knew the story was stunned. Who could have imagined that the notorious wastrel of Dulin City would one day pass the palace examination and place third?

Surrounded by busybodies flattering and congratulating her, telling her, "Soon you’ll be the wife of the third-place scholar," Feng Meiyu couldn’t bring herself to smile. Two painful sores even popped up at the corners of her mouth.

Her husband, whom she had painstakingly shaped into a success, had indeed developed remarkable talents under her strict guidance. He had even attracted the favor of a princess, a marquis’s daughter, and the Grand Tutor’s legitimate daughter, among other heaven-blessed young women.

The imperial decree granting him a marriage hung over her head like a sword. If his humble first wife didn’t step aside now, it would be hard to make that happy double wedding come about.

…

Feng Meiyu didn’t sleep all night.

She couldn’t stop thinking about the days when her husband was still a good-for-nothing.

He would come back from riding with his wastrel friends, carrying a big bag of snacks and trinkets, then rush to massage her legs and feet...

It felt almost as if it had all happened in a previous life.

*

When Yuan Jingcheng learned that the emperor was considering arranging a marriage for him, the first thing he thought of was a passage he had studied before he transmigrated:

"Without my grandmother, I would never have reached where I am today. Without me, my grandmother would never have lived out her remaining years."

Only he had to replace the grandmother in that sentence with his wife.

The second thing he thought of was a song he’d heard before transmigrating:

"I have a wife, and she loves me."

Under the pressure of the supreme imperial authority, Yuan Jingcheng spoke at length about the hardships he and Feng Meiyu had endured as a young married couple. He shamelessly showed off their love while politely refusing, and in the end, he managed to dissuade the emperor from playing matchmaker.

On his way home at dawn, whenever he imagined how close Feng Meiyu would be with him now that he had earned an official title, he grew giddy with joy, floating on air.

But the letter of divorce in his hands arrived even before his wife’s embrace.

Yuan Jingcheng: "...Damn it!"

*I haven’t thought of a suitable title yet, so I’m using this one for now. There probably won’t be much of a "chasing his wife" element in practice.

Theme: Sharing hardship and joy, growing together