The Top Scholar’s Ambitious Little Husband

[My new novel, “After Cross-Dressing to Marry the Dragon-Pride Protagonist [Worldbuilding],” is now underway. Pretty wooden-head shou: Who’d believe it? I really am here to be a strategist!] This story: [Elegant, self-assured, scheming gentleman gong × thin-skinned, secretly ambitious beauty shou] Qiu Huanian, “the number-one overachiever in the lifestyle section,” transmigrates into the body of a young man in ancient times. His father doesn’t care for him, his stepmother doesn’t love him, and during a famine he is traded to the Du family in a neighboring village for two dou of sorghum, to become their young son’s child bride. When he wakes, all that remains of the household are three thatched cottages, two hens, and the Du family’s siblings, thin as sticks. The villagers are all saying that the Du family’s eldest son, the husband he has never met, has lost his prospects and is about to return to the village to live off his wife. Plenty of people are waiting to laugh at them. Qiu Huanian looks at the eldest Du son’s refined, handsome face, like a dragon-pride protagonist, and his heart suddenly pounds. He rolls up his sleeves and says lightly, “It’s fine. I’ll support him.” * Du Yunse was hailed as a child prodigy at ten and became a student of a renowned scholar of his time. He spent years traveling and studying abroad. But the court was treacherous, and when his mentor was thrown into prison, Du Yunse had no choice but to return to the village and lie low. Knowing his parents had died and that only his young siblings and the child groom he had never met remained at home, Du Yunse was deeply worried. But when he returned to the village, he found a neat courtyard, lively and healthy younger siblings, and a beautiful little husband praised by everyone, as lovely as a painting. His little husband smiled brightly and earnestly reminded him, “Don’t skimp on paper when you practice writing. Use an oil lamp when you read, and eat meat every day.” “I’m investing in you, after all. Once you place on the imperial examinations, you have to treat me well.” Du Yunse’s heart melted. He took the slender, beautiful hand of his little husband. “All right. I’ll bring back the top scholar’s title for you, Hua-ge’er.” * Making sorghum candies, pickling fermented tofu, growing cotton, buying a mule… The Du family’s life got better and better, until everyone in the village envied them. When the messenger bearing the good news stepped into the courtyard, Du Yunse was drying Qiu Huanian’s hair. Some people said Qiu Huanian’s heart wasn’t entirely with Du Yunse. The refined young man, as elegant as a jade tree among orchids, only smiled faintly. “A pearl chooses its master. That’s only right. I’ll prove that I’m the one worthy of him.” A few reading notes: 1. A farming story, sweet and satisfying, with the ge’er setting and childbirth in the middle and later parts. 2. Everyday life, family affairs, and a slow, steady romance. The gong is handsome, the shou is beautiful. 3. A long novel with a bit of an ensemble cast. As the story progresses, various BL side couples with their own lives will come and go, all with happy endings. (They include, but aren’t limited to, marriage before love, childhood sweethearts, bickering enemies, forced possession, and regretful pursuit.) 4. Reading should be fun. I care a lot about logic and setting in my writing. If something confuses you, you can check my replies in the comments or read a few more chapters; most questions are answered. Please don’t clutter the comments with baseless accusations and profanity. My new worldbuilding and farming novel is now underway. Interested readers can check it out on my author page~ “After Cross-Dressing to Marry the Dragon-Pride Protagonist [Worldbuilding]” / Who’d believe it? I really am here to be a strategist! * [Worldbuilding + farming + conquest, set in a fictional dynasty inspired by the Wei and Jin periods] Lan Yao, a young master of the Lan family renowned for his refined beauty and peerless skill at planning and calculation, awakens to memories of the modern world. He discovers that he is living in a novel about a man’s rise to power, and that his entire family is doomed to be cannon fodder His frail younger sister is betrothed to a man in a bitterly cold land, but falls ill and dies on the way to her wedding; His aristocratic mother rebels in vain and hangs herself; His pedantic father gives everything for a foolish emperor and willingly dies for his country on the day the capital falls. * Compared to them, Huo Yuanqian, the novel’s dragon-pride protagonist, is cold and ruthless, but undeniably a hero. He raises an army in the bitterly cold land of Liangzhou, wages war for years, and sweeps across the realm. In the end, he ascends the throne, and all the loyal men who helped him conquer the realm are richly rewarded and meet happy ends. Looking at the betrothal decree in front of him and the Lan family’s gloomy faces, Lan Yao decides to use this chance to pledge himself early to the child of destiny, and find a way forward for his family. The peach-blossom-faced young man dons a bright red wedding dress, tricks fate, and takes his sister’s place as the bride. * The frail young lady of the Lan family shuts herself away after marrying into the northwest, while the usually cold and ruthless Prince of the Northwest is gentle and indulgent with her, treasuring her above all else. Meanwhile, a strategist who never forgets anything and knows everything quietly joins the Huo army. In the bitterly cold northwest, he cultivates thousands of acres of farmland, improves farming tools, builds irrigation works, plans cities, and manufactures weapons, transforming the region into a paradise everyone longs to visit. … Many years later, Huo Yuanqian’s army enters the imperial capital just as it does in the novel, but this time there are no wailing masses. The entire country is filled with joy and prosperity. Lan Yao happily calculates that, given his contributions, he’s bound to be one of the Three Excellencies now. But Huo Yuanqian simply tosses the imperial seal and the phoenix seal into his hands. “Be my empress. We’ll rule together, as two sovereigns sharing the court and the realm.” * At first, Huo Yuanqian is suspicious and disdainful of the Lan family’s talented young master, who wears a wedding dress, looks as beautiful as a woman, and swears from the moment they meet that he will help Huo Yuanqian lead an army to defend the emperor. But later, he realizes that this man has kept every promise he ever made to him. And his lonely, desolate heart has long since become bound to this person. “Lan Yao, without you, this realm would hold no interest for me.” A domineering ruler who loves to talk himself into things × a beautiful, wooden-headed strategist shou, one-on-one, both virgins 1. A farming and worldbuilding story. The gong conquers; the shou governs. 2. Plot + romance = sweet and satisfying (trust me!) Theme: Hard work brings prosperity