The Male Concubine (Matriarchal Society)

Completed + next story: Blind Husband

[More female-dominance novels and GB stories are available in my collection. My upcoming stories are running low, so please leave a sweet little bookmark. Love you!]

Male pregnancy / runaway with child / female doting on male

After the Xue family falls from power, Xue Lingyu has only two choices: enter the palace as a servant or become Jiang He's concubine.

Jiang He is the legitimate daughter of the imperial merchant Jiang family. She was once the biggest wastrel in the capital, and loved Xue Lingyu without hope of return.

Like the other noblewomen in the capital, Jiang He once asked for Xue Lingyu's hand in marriage. She once stopped him at a banquet to confess her feelings, only to receive a humiliating reply.

"Miss Jiang, you come from a family of merchants. You should get rid of that coppery smell before attending a banquet."

Xue Lingyu stepped without hesitation over the plum branch Jiang He had prepared, without even looking back.

Jiang He returned home and fell seriously ill. When she woke, she seemed like a different person. Not only did she take over the Jiang family's business, she expanded it, earning the emperor's favor.

Unwilling to become a servant, Xue Lingyu gritted his teeth and chose to enter the Jiang household as a concubine.

Jiang He was no longer young, but still refused to marry. Her father knew she had once had feelings for Xue Lingyu, so he made the decision to take him in.

He would only be a concubine, someone to bear heirs for Jiang He.

On the day he was taken as a concubine, Jiang He watched her former sweetheart, now her male concubine, trembling as he reached for her sash.

She suddenly laughed.

Xue Lingyu drew his hand back in fright, then secretly looked up at her. "My lord, you brought me here to bear you an heir..."

Jiang He saw the glaring cinnabar mole between his brows and agreed.

The Jiang family and everyone else had assumed Jiang He hated Xue Lingyu and had taken him in only to humiliate him. But no one expected her to let Xue Lingyu bear her eldest daughter, and eventually refuse a marriage with a prince and elevate the concubine who had borne her a child to the status of wife.

Cover artist: Rees, Ten Miles of Joy

Upcoming story: The Delicate Male Lead Runs Away with His Child (Female-Dominance)

Female doting on male / genuinely delicate male lead / male pregnancy / runaway with child

Xue Baodai fell in love with Li Zhen at first sight.

He was born into the Duke of Anguo's household. His mother was a first-rank duke, and his father was the adopted son of a Grand Madam. His family was the most prestigious in the capital, while the Li family was merely a fifth-rank official household. Even though Li Zhen didn't like him, he used his family's power to get his way and marry into the Li family.

He knew he had forced this marriage, so even after Li Zhen kept bullying him, he still tried his best to honor his elders, manage the household, and serve his wife, hoping that one day she would come to love him.

But one day, he accidentally learned that Li Zhen had once had a childhood sweetheart she loved.

In just three years, Li Zhen rose to become a trusted confidante of the emperor, and the Li family became the talk of the capital. By comparison, the Duke of Anguo's household gradually declined, losing its former glory. Then Xue Baodai received word that Li Zhen's childhood sweetheart, who had left the capital, was coming back.

Knowing he'd taken someone else's place and that his wife didn't love him, after Li Zhen bullied him badly yet again, he finally made up his mind to let go and seek a divorce.

Back when Xue Baodai had forced his way into the Li family, he pressured his mother and coerced Li Zhen into the marriage. That was why Li Zhen had resisted it so much. Even after taking him as her husband, she hadn't planned to touch him, intending to be a wife and husband in name only. But on their wedding night, as she lifted his red veil without much tenderness, she changed her mind when she saw his bright, sparkling eyes.

So be it. Since he'd married her, she'd treat him well. It was just that Xue Baodai was more delicate than any noble young man she'd ever met. The slightest bump made his eyes go red, and if she kissed him for too long, he'd cry. Every time, she had to coax him for ages.

Even her friends teased her. "Your husband needs silver charcoal in winter and a gold-thread quilt in summer. He's so delicate, have you adopted a little ancestor? Can you even afford to keep him?"

She took a sip of tea and replied calmly, "It's good for him to be delicate."

Later, she rose to first-rank office and was swamped with official duties. Then her younger cousin returned to the capital and asked her to oversee his wedding. She had dinner without Xue Baodai for only two days, and somehow he was already demanding a divorce. In the end, he even left a divorce letter and ran off.

Xue Baodai ran away with barely any money. He couldn't afford the pastries he liked, and by the time Li Zhen found him, he'd lost a lot of weight, but his belly had grown round. Li Zhen was both worried and angry. She gripped his wrist and asked in a low voice:

"Why did you want a divorce? Why did you run away while pregnant?"

Xue Baodai thought Li Zhen was even fiercer than before and said aggrievedly, "The person you love isn't me..."

Li Zhen was so angry she almost laughed. If she didn't love him, why would she indulge him in everything, pity him for being young, and hold herself back in so many ways?

Theme: The time will come to ride the wind and break the waves; face life's hardships with a smile.