Did the Powerful Minister Climb into Bed Tonight?

[Emotionally obtuse, wooden sweetheart x self-deluded, peacock-like older man]

Bian Huai, the youngest daughter of the Bian family, was taciturn and dull-witted, and always kept company with exotic pets. Her birth father and stepmother despised her, abandoning her in the mountains for five years without ever returning.

Only her eldest sister was kindhearted, bringing her cotton clothes in winter and ice in summer. Without her eldest sister, Bian Huai would never have survived this long.

But this very sister was beaten by her husband while pregnant, and their parents hurriedly brought her back home in the middle of the night.

Bian Huai insisted on going home too, only to be driven away.

After saving the powerful official Yun Tingchun, she borrowed his influence and finally made her parents beg her to return home and stay by her eldest sister's side.

From then on, Bian Huai held two wishes in her heart:

First, to stay by her eldest sister's side, and second, to stay with her exotic pets.

Her greatest hope was to find a warm home for her exotic pet babies and find her eldest sister a marriage that would make her happy.

As the saying goes, one should marry a person whose nature is upright to begin with. Those who say they will treat you well and you alone are probably just waiting for their beastly nature to show.

Bian Huai weighed it over and over. The one who suited her best was Yun Tingchun.

Yun Tingchun never pretended to be a good person. As a young scholar, he dared to report his corrupt tutor in writing. At twenty, while leading troops as a supervisor, he dared to blow up a dam and drown the enemy. On the eve of his resignation, he eliminated rebellious members of the imperial clan and helped the current emperor ascend the throne. During the years he kept a low profile while mourning and stayed away from court, he still dared to speak frankly in memorials, denouncing the emperor's failings.

Later, when his nephew molested an innocent young woman, he upheld justice by hanging his nephew's head at the gates of his residence as a warning to others.

He was not bloodthirsty, but he was certainly no gentle soul. He couldn't say when it began, but a daft little girl had somehow appeared at his side.

At first, the girl saved him, and he helped her return home in passing. After that, she was always hovering around him, saying strange things and even giving him a flounder.

His subordinates said Bian Huai had fallen for him, and that she was only being so indirect because young ladies were shy.

Yun Tingchun thought about it for a long time and decided they might be right.

But he had no interest in romance. Besides, Bian Huai spent every day with her exotic pets, while he was terrified of insects and wild animals. They were simply not suited to each other.

He made up his mind to be honest with her, so he wouldn't waste her time.

"Miss Huai, I am afraid I cannot be the man you deserve. Please find someone else."

But no matter how he put it, Bian Huai refused to accept it. She even woke in the middle of the night and secretly wiped away her tears.

So be it.

Yun Tingchun figured that he was more than ten years older than Bian Huai, and he had power in his hands. It wouldn't be impossible to marry her and protect her for the rest of her life.

Bian Huai waited and waited until at last the eight-person bridal sedan and ten miles of wedding finery arrived. But...

Why was she the one getting married?!

Bian Huai was whisked into the bridal sedan in a daze and brought to the Yun residence.

On their wedding night, Yun Tingchun said with a look of resignation, "Now that we're married, I will treat you well from this day forward. I won't leave you lonely or make you spend your nights alone."

"I want a divorce!"

Yun Tingchun's expression darkened at once. Only later did he understand: this little girl had never been in love with him at all. She had been trying to set him up with her eldest sister from the very beginning.

Now she felt she had stolen her eldest sister's marriage, and even being with him felt like an ordeal.

But the bridal sedan had already crossed the threshold, and the marriage contract had been signed. Once Yun Tingchun accepted something, he would never let it go.

They would share a bed in life and a grave in death, bound by a debt of love for all eternity.

Theme: People and exotic pets living together in harmony.