Dear Father, Must You Abandon Your Husband and Child After Ascending?

Jun Jie Wu and Li Zhuo Chen spent decades as husband and wife in the mortal realm. Thanks to Jun Jie Wu's unusual constitution, they even had a child.

When they returned to the Heavenly Court one day, they discovered it had all been a tribulation of love, a dream of golden millet.

A thunderclap boomed, shaking the Ninth Heaven. The immortals rushed over to watch, only to learn that Xianjun Jie Wu and Xianjun Zhuo Chen, who had descended to the mortal realm to undergo tribulations, had returned to their rightful places. After returning, both had ascended to become High Gods, and the immortals offered their congratulations.

But the two gods involved looked more miserable than the other. High God Zhuo Chen seemed lost in thought, while High God Jie Wu turned his face away. Siming, the only one who knew what had really happened, fanned himself and smiled without saying a word.

Jun Jie Wu came back to himself. "...That's fine, too. Our mortal ties are severed. From now on, you go your way and I'll go mine..."

Li Zhuo Chen's eyes curved. "What are you talking about, wife? What's the point of being an immortal if you can't enjoy a warm bed with your wife and child?"

And so the immortals noticed that a tall figure had appeared beside High God Jie Wu, who had always kept to himself and had a notoriously bad temper. Jun Jie Wu found him insufferable, and his expression grew colder by the day.

...Yet the High God Jie Wu who had once ground a lecher to dust with a single spell never actually laid a hand on him.

The immortals exchanged knowing looks.

After seven hundred years of getting the cold shoulder from his wife and not even managing to hold her hand again, High God Zhuo Chen finally decided to give up.

He drained the last jug of immortal wine, tossed it into the sea of clouds, and laughed at himself. "Fine. If our mortal ties are severed, then so be it. He can have his peace, and I'll have my freedom. Immortals live for ages. Who can't go on without whom?"

A few days later, Siming strolled into Li Zhuo Chen's palace and said as if in passing, "I hear things aren't peaceful at Lingwu Palace today. High God Jie Wu seems to have had an accident while forging a treasure, collapsing half of a side hall. The attendants say they saw blood on his hand..."

Li Zhuo Chen shot to his feet, knocking over the teacup on the table with his robe. The next second, though, he forced himself to stop and slowly sat back down, turning his face away with a cold snort. "...What does that have to do with me?" He'd heal on his own before you could finish a cup of tea.

When the news reached Jun Jie Wu, the other half of the side hall collapsed, too. From then on, the two High Gods were completely at war with each other. One shut himself indoors, while the other never set foot in Lingwu Palace again.

The immortals who had watched them for seven hundred years on the Ninth Heaven privately wondered: It seemed this seven-year itch really would never pass.

One day, another bolt of heavenly lightning struck, shaking the Ninth Heaven once more. The thunder was as loud as it had been when the two High Gods returned to their rightful places. Clearly, this was a god of extraordinary talent.

The gods rode their immortal beasts and crossed the clouds to gather at the entrance to the Upper Heaven. As the lightning faded, they saw a young god standing there. He scratched his head, grinned, and said:

"Greetings, fellow immortals! May I ask, are my dad, Li Zhuo Chen, and my mom, Jun Jie Wu, here?"

[Charming, rakish, shameless top × prickly, wife-like beauty bottom]

Reader's guide: 1v1, each other's first love. The plot and romance each take up about half the story. Overall, it's bittersweet but sweet, not an angst novel. The bottom avoids his feelings for the top early on for a reason, which will be revealed later. In truth, they have intensely mutual feelings. Neither character is perfect, and this isn't a story for readers who are devoted to just one side. The top-and-bottom scenes and the child-related scenes in the blurb are two parallel storylines, not an indication of their chronological order. Side couple: cross-dressing merman × Ji. Their romantic scenes are limited in the main story and serve the plot. The title may change often. The author is committed to being a little absurd about it (not really), so please bookmark the story to avoid losing track of it. Anti-piracy measures are in place: 80%-90% during serialization. Enjoy the story in peace, discuss kindly, and please don't give unsolicited writing advice. Thank you~

Coming soon: His Majesty Insists on Having His Way. If you enjoy pregnant beauties | everyday child-rearing | childhood friends | possessive love | loving and fighting each other | the intense push-and-pull of an old married couple, please bookmark it. Here's the blurb:

Qi Heng and Shen Yan Shu shared a bed from childhood, their bond as childhood friends deepening over fifteen years. One was the decisive, ruthless crown prince, and the other was the uniquely handsome son of the Grand Tutor.

When Qi Heng ascended the throne, the imperial court became a battleground for power. Defying the whole world, he used an iron fist to pave a path of red silk, forcibly locking Shen Yan Shu into the phoenix seat and taking him as his male empress.

On their wedding night, Shen Yan Shu nearly drove a dagger into his heart. The next morning, Qi Heng went to court with a bright red handprint on his face.

The officials trembled with fear, all saying the empress hated His Majesty to the bone, and that their marriage would end with one of them dead!

After the wedding, Shen Yan Shu believed he hated Qi Heng with all his heart, but he couldn't break the habits they'd formed growing up together.

In front of others, Young Master Shen was refined and aloof. Only around Qi Heng was he "abnormal." Whenever Qi Heng raised a hand, Shen Yan Shu would instinctively lean into the crook of his arm. Whenever Qi Heng bent down, Shen Yan Shu would automatically wrap his arms around his neck and climb onto his back.

Now that Qi Heng was "humiliating" him like this, Shen Yan Shu decided to break, one by one, the bad habits Qi Heng had instilled in him.

Shen Yan Shu coldly tossed away the pastries Qi Heng insisted on feeding him while reviewing memorials. He ate even the foods he disliked without changing his expression. At night, he would rather pile two extra quilts on his own bed than let anyone hold him in their arms.

The old eunuch serving him was terrified. And yet he saw Shen Yan Shu quietly point out the trick when officials in court laid a trap for Qi Heng; purse his lips and finish reviewing the memorials when Qi Heng fell asleep at his desk from exhaustion; and, when Qi Heng's old illness flared up, coldly have medicine sent over while claiming the Imperial Medical Bureau had taken it upon themselves.

The old eunuch was utterly baffled.

Until one day, as Shen Yan Shu was eating a table full of delicacies, a wave of nausea suddenly rose in his throat. He turned aside and retched.

Qi Heng's expression changed dramatically, and he immediately summoned the imperial physician. The elderly physician took his pulse with trembling hands, then fell to his knees with a thump and stammered, "C-Congratulations, Your Majesty. The Empress... is with child."

Qi Heng stood frozen, unable to react for a long moment.

After Shen Yan Shu became pregnant, his temper rose steadily. Before, he would simply wear a cold expression and ignore people. Now, the slightest thing displeased him, and he'd fly into a rage. Throwing cups and smashing bowls was the least of it. He was so beautiful that even when he was angry, his features held a breathtaking allure.

By day, Qi Heng was driven from their chambers by a pillow, the veins at his temples throbbing as he gritted out, "What happened to the emperor's dignity?" and "I absolutely won't let this go this time!"

At night, though, he would slink back to the bed and carefully gather Shen Yan Shu into his arms, rubbing his swollen belly and legs in slow circles with his palm.

Shen Yan Shu kept his eyes closed and said nothing. Pretending to be half-asleep, he hooked an arm around Qi Heng's neck and burrowed into his embrace. Watching Shen Yan Shu's lashes tremble as he pretended to sleep, Qi Heng's lips curved into a smile.

A few years later, Great Liang had a little crown prince as beautiful as a painted doll.

During a lesson, the Grand Tutor explained the phrase "forcing someone to do something against their will" and asked, "Your Highness, do you know what these words mean?"

The little crown prince sat behind his desk, his short legs dangling above the floor as he swung them back and forth. He answered with great seriousness, "Of course I do. 'The strong man' means my Imperial Father."

The Grand Tutor's hand shook, and he nearly dropped the scroll. He asked in a trembling voice, "W-Why does it mean His Majesty?"

The little crown prince replied with righteous confidence, "My Imperial Father rules the world and commands the four seas. Naturally, he's the strongest person in the world."

The Grand Tutor: "..."

"As for the 'locking up a man' part... 'man' means my dad. Last time, I peeked through the crack in the door. Dad kicked Imperial Father, so Imperial Father took out the golden lock he'd had made a few days earlier and locked Dad's wrist to the bedpost..."

He looked up, his face full of hope for praise. "Grand Tutor, did I explain it right?"

Obsessive, roguish emperor top (Qi Heng) × uniquely handsome beauty bottom (Shen Yan Shu)

Theme: A happy, complete family.