[Male Lead's Redemption Arc] [Male Lead Gets Pregnant]
[Not a Matriarchal Society, Just a Traditional Historical Romance]
As snow swirled around her, Xue An'an stood barefoot in white atop the highest point of the imperial palace, gazing down at the turbulent Muyu River below.
Not far behind her stood the emperor, his face stricken with panic. His voice carried a hint of pleading. "An'an, come, come back..."
Xue An'an turned to meet his gaze, smiling as if they were seeing each other for the first time. "Luo Shiyin, wouldn't it have been wonderful if we'd never met?" With that, she leapt.
"An'an!" The emperor's eyes nearly bulged from their sockets. He crawled toward her in a frenzy, but all he saw was the rushing river.
Looking back on her life, Xue An'an had been born into a prestigious family and enjoyed every advantage. When her mother remarried, she brought Xue An'an into the imperial palace. The late emperor treated her as his own daughter and bestowed upon her the title of Princess Changle.
She had known no sorrow in the first half of her life, until she met the legendary Seventh Prince in the Cold Palace.
Alone and sickly, dressed in white mourning clothes.
Beneath the dim corridor, he looked just like a little white flower battered by wind and rain.
Xue An'an pitied him and brought him to live in Weiyang Palace.
She asked the imperial physicians to cure his illness so he could study at the Imperial Academy. She asked her uncle, the general, to teach him martial arts, and her grandfather, the chancellor, to teach him political strategy.
Who could have imagined that the Seventh Prince, once sick, wounded, and utterly alone, would rely on his own efforts, with Xue An'an's help, to defeat his brothers one by one, become heir apparent, and finally ascend the throne as the new emperor of Great Zhou?
On the eve of his enthronement, he told her, "An'an, one heart for a lifetime. I will marry no one but you."
That night, they held each other tightly, and a trace of red stained the bright yellow sheets.
She embroidered her wedding dress happily in Weiyang Palace, waiting for his decree appointing her empress.
But what arrived instead was news that her grandfather had been demoted, her uncle imprisoned, and the new emperor had taken a consort.
In the end, she had given her heart to the wrong man.
She had ruined her whole family and no longer deserved to go on living.
After Xue An'an died, Luo Shiyin went completely mad.
Every day, he ordered people to search for her body, walked barefoot along the paths she had taken, posthumously titled her empress, and fell asleep night after night clutching her memorial tablet.
He was cruel and tyrannical, and killing people became second nature to him.
He had intended to join her in death, but then discovered that he was carrying Xue An'an's child.
On another Lantern Festival night, Luo Shiyin was walking down the main street with the young heir when he turned and suddenly saw the face he had longed for day and night.
The elegant woman, with raven-black hair and skin as pale as snow, accidentally bumped into him. Flustered, she said, "I'm sorry. My husband and I were separated by the crowd. Do you know the way to the Number One Scholar's residence?"
Luo Shiyin watched her lips move, but couldn't hear a word she said. His eyes reddened as he stared fixedly at her, his voice trembling. "...An'an?"
At last, he had found her.
He would never let her go again, not for the rest of his life.
Notes:
1. The male lead has a special constitution and can get pregnant.
2. The male lead does not change.
3. The female lead has a terrible sense of direction.
Theme: What matters most in maintaining a relationship is not what the other person says, but what they give.
