Born to Live Off Others

Blurb:

An old saying goes that most things in life are fated, decided from birth.

Fan Hu, who had suffered one misfortune after another since childhood and struggled to survive, scoffed at the idea.

But after changing his name, he... seemed to have turned his luck around?

First, during his exile, he caught the steward of the Princess's residence's eye. He was spared the tattoo and hard labor, taken back to the residence of the Grand Princess Who Guards the Nation, and became her eighteenth child bridegroom.

At thirteen, he was sent to guard the gates because he was too burly to please the Grand Princess.

But Fan Hu turned misfortune into good luck, winning the favor of the heir and ultimately keeping his comfortable life of fine clothes and good food.

At fifteen, the heir was appointed by the emperor as an imperial envoy to inspect the borders. The Grand Princess thought that although Fan Hu was dark, burly, and greedy, he had the bearing of a military family, and decided to give him to the empress dowager. But the palace issued an imperial decree: Fan Hu's older sister, who had been sent to the Imperial Music Bureau, had spent eight years struggling in the deep palace and finally risen to power, becoming a consort.

In half a year, Fan Hu made a dazzling transformation from the Grand Princess's child bridegroom into the young lord's brother-in-law.

Just when Fan Hu thought his luck had finally turned around for good and had resigned himself to a life of living off others, the heir told him:

If you eat the meal, you have to pay the price.

Theme: There is no such thing as a free lunch.