After the Beauty Concubine Asked Her Prisoner for a Child

(This is what I'm writing next) Feng Zhuqi x Bai Zheng

Prince of Jin Feng Wenzhao was born with a hidden ailment that made it difficult for him to have children.

To ensure the royal household had an heir, the Dowager Princess bought a slave to serve as a concubine and sent him to the prince's residence.

The slave was named Bai Zheng. They said he came from the "Pearl Chamber Tribe" of the Western Regions.

The people of the Pearl Chamber Tribe carried a unique fragrance, were skilled in seduction, and were especially known for their fertility.

The merchant who sold Bai Zheng even claimed that if he spent one night with Prince Jin, Bai Zheng was sure to conceive.

But Feng Wenzhao already had someone in his heart.

He loathed the foreign youth the Dowager Princess had sent him. Cold mockery and sudden fits of anger were commonplace.

And so, in the five years Bai Zheng spent at the prince's residence, he never conceived.

In the sixteenth year of Yudong, the border fell into chaos.

Crown Prince Feng Zhuqi failed to command the army effectively, resulting in the loss of the western territories. The Guiyong army's iron hooves reached Qiejin Pass, and dark clouds gathered over the land.

After returning to the capital, Feng Zhuqi was accused of betraying his sovereign and selling out his country. His position as crown prince hung by a thread. An imperial decree forced him into seclusion in a pagoda, cutting him off completely from the political tide.

That year, the young aristocrats of the capital came to the pagoda to pray during their spring outing.

Beneath the oil lamps and ancient Buddha statues, Feng Zhuqi hid behind the altar table and watched a group of young masters surround a beautiful young man, teasing him without restraint.

A subtle fragrance drifted around the beauty, whose features were soft and exquisitely lovely. He seemed a little slow to react, docile and compliant. Even when they kissed him until his lips were swollen and red, he didn't dare make a sound.

His husband, Prince Jin Feng Wenzhao, acted as if he hadn't seen a thing, merely watching coldly over his teacup.

Feng Zhuqi had often been berated for his cold-hearted nature.

Yet that night, for reasons he couldn't explain, his compassion stirred. He made the banners flutter behind the altar, then seized the chance to rescue the poor beauty from the hall.

He thought it was a small favor. He never imagined Bai Zheng would remember it so dearly.

After that, Bai Zheng often came to visit him, bringing honey, candied fruit, and grasshoppers woven from straw.

Feng Zhuqi gave him gifts in return, but Bai Zheng refused the gold, silver, and jewels.

Then, on another rainy night, Bai Zheng arrived holding a tattered oil-paper umbrella, soaked from head to toe, his eyes red as if he had been crying.

He clung to Feng Zhuqi and pleaded through his sobs.

"Big brother, could you... give me a child?"

"Please... I'm begging you."

Bai Zheng had been frail from birth. In the ghost doctor's words, his mind was dull.

He had known since childhood that he wasn't as clever as other children, so he always tried his best to be more obedient than them.

But that docility and obedience had led him to endure five years of darkness at Prince Jin's residence.

He thought having a child would make things better, but instead they grew worse.

Feng Wenzhao drove him out of the residence. With nowhere else to go, Bai Zheng had no choice but to perform for the capital's aristocratic households, drifting from place to place.

Yet the following spring, the capital underwent a complete change of power.

The crown prince returned to the palace, Prince Jin fell from power, and the officials of the court trembled, never knowing when a blade might be held to their throats.

Bai Zheng had assumed none of this had anything to do with him.

Until the crown prince, rumored to be tyrannical and arrogant, came to his door.

...The young man had a wicked look in his eyes and a powerful build, blocking out every ray of sunlight behind the window.

Only when his gaze fell on Bai Zheng's rounded belly did his Adam's apple bob.

He called, "Zhengzheng."

A fierce, untamed attack who is devoted to his wife x a kind, timid, yet unyielding beauty who would rather break than bend

Content warnings:

1. 1v1, the top is pure in body and heart. I haven't decided whether the bottom is sexually inexperienced yet; that will depend on the plot.

2. The top changes. The former husband isn't actually impotent, and his ending is grim. Other side characters have one-sided feelings for the bottom, and all those with romantic interest are sexually inexperienced.

3. A little melodramatic, but a sweet story. The bottom will suffer some hardships, but won't be abused (no graphic violence, humiliation, or abuse of any kind).

4. The bottom really is poorly educated, but he's not stupid. Think of him as a little slower than average. He's ambitious and strong-willed.

5. Includes some degree of objectification of the bottom. But everyone who loves him truly does, and would never treat him with contempt.

6. I consider this a healing story, with a happy ending.

Theme: Love is the freedom to grow