Your Highness, the Young Prince, Can't You Stop Running from the Wedding?

Chu Huaiye had a dream.

In the dream, he was the protagonist of a book, but the emperor uncle bestowed him in marriage to the future villain, who was still only a fourth-rank official.

The villain schemed relentlessly and climbed the ranks by any means necessary. He not only brought down the chancellor, but nearly toppled the imperial throne.

Meanwhile, Chu Huaiye endured humiliation and used their intimacy in bed to win the villain's trust. In the end, he saw through the villain's plot, safeguarded the Chu dynasty, and ascended the throne amid the ministers' fervent protests.

Chu Huaiye was furious: How could I possibly be the one getting topped?!

He thought it was nothing but a nightmare. Who could have guessed that the very next day, as soon as he stepped out of his residence, he would receive an imperial edict bestowing him in marriage?

Chu Huaiye was horrified: The nightmare had actually come true!

He really was going to get topped! And one day, he'd be an emperor who went to court at the hour of the rabbit and was still reviewing memorials at the hour of the tiger!

You've got to be kidding me!

Chu Huaiye immediately packed his valuables and ran.

Being the protagonist could be left to someone more capable. The Sixth Prince seemed like a good fit.

*

Xie Shixu was named top scholar by imperial decree in the first year of Zhaoping, at just seventeen.

Unfortunately, he came from a poor family and had little support in official circles. Even after entering the chancellor's service and working diligently for over a decade, he had only reached the rank of a fourth-grade official.

He never expected an imperial edict to arrive out of nowhere, ordering the emperor to betroth the young prince to him.

Nor did he expect that the young prince would dare defy the edict and run away from the wedding.

The emperor was furious and ordered him stripped of his position and sent home. He would only be reinstated once he found the young prince and brought him back to the capital.

Xie Shixu: ...

He wasn't the one who defied the edict, so why was he the one being punished?

*

On the run from his wedding, Chu Huaiye happened to rescue a sickly beauty fleeing a disaster.

The beauty was frail, but truly lovely. Swayed by his good looks, Chu Huaiye agreed to travel with him.

He just couldn't figure out why, after setting off with the beauty, Xie Guihong, his sleep improved dramatically. Every day, he slept until well after sunrise.

Xie Guihong said apologetically, "It's my fault for burdening you, Brother Lin, and making you so tired."

Chu Huaiye felt sorry for him. "Not at all! I was born a good sleeper!!"

Xie Guihong smiled, and that night he added another two qian of incense to the sleeping draught.

*

By day, Xie Shixu played house with the young prince. By night, he secretly investigated the account books. After two months, he nearly worked himself to death.

As soon as the matter was settled, he immediately sent a message to the capital, hoping they'd hurry up and send the ancestor back so he could get his job back.

But he returned to the capital only half a month later, and the young prince had run away again!

Xie Shixu looked at the eunuch bearing the imperial edict, calm and collected, and set out to find his husband once more.

Meanwhile, Chu Huaiye was galloping at full speed.

"Aaaah! Guihong! Waaaaah! I didn't mean to leave without saying goodbye! Aaaah! Wait for me! Aaaah!"

==Reader's Guide:

1. Cunning, brilliant-to-the-point-of-being-monster-like sickly beauty gong x highly skilled, clueless face-con like shou

2. Sickly does not mean weak gong

3. I'll add more if I think of anything

Theme: Sincerity, courage, and kindness