The Poor Scholar Happily Stumbles Upon a Lovely Husband

[Main story complete, extras updating gradually]

[Don't think too hard while reading. The shou is a self-sacrificing saint.]

Updates go behind a paywall on Wednesday. The paywall starts at Chapter 25, so those following along can read up to there first.

Fu Yanshen was born into a wealthy family. After his father died, his stepmother tried to seduce him, then falsely accused him when he refused. She seized all the family property and threw him out, leaving him with only two worthless plots of land.

One day, he would reclaim everything that belonged to him. But first, he had to fill his stomach.

He came back from the fields after going hungry all day. His shabby house had nothing to eat, and his "creditors" showed up every few days to smash things.

He went out to find food, originally planning to earn money carrying cargo at the docks.

A wealthy young gentleman suddenly appeared, invited him to dinner, got him drunk, then helped him to his own room to sleep.

Fu Yanshen never dreamed someone would climb into his bed in the middle of the night!

Min Xi was born into a prominent family.

To curry favor with the powerful, his family used deceit to send him to their bed.

The next morning, his family came rushing in to catch them in the act.

When they pulled back the covers, the person in bed wasn't the powerful man at all, but a poor scholar.

The poor scholar simply said he couldn't afford to marry him.

Beautiful Min Xi was cast out by his entire family and berated to his face.

Heartbroken, he jumped into a lake, while everyone else argued and blamed one another.

Only the poor scholar jumped into the water to pull him out. Holding him, he said, "If you don't mind, I'll come marry you in three days."

With tears in his eyes, Min Xi nodded as hard as he could.

His family mocked him.

But after he married the scholar, he never suffered at all. His husband doted on him and indulged him in everything. Their life was happy and comfortable.

The only thing was... he sometimes couldn't get out of bed.

Ruan Huo is the crown prince of the current dynasty, reborn from a previous life. He failed to become emperor then, and was firmly controlled by a corrupt official named Fu Yanshen.

He launched a coup, but Fu Yanshen discovered it first and had him thrown into prison.

Now that he's reborn, he wants to change his fate!

His first step is to make sure Fu Yanshen marries someone first.

Scheming scholar gong vs. kindhearted, shy martial arts expert shou.

The shou is a little self-sacrificing, but not too much. He'll give to charity, but he won't go hungry just to give things away. And if someone offends him, he'll get his revenge.

I know some readers may dislike a shou who likes helping the poor, so I described him as a saintly type.

Some readers thought the gong was weak-willed in Chapter One, but he's cold and heartless. Why would he ask others for help? If he were on his own, he wouldn't let himself owe anyone a favor. He stands at the top, with no family behind him, just himself. He's as straight as a ruler and well suited to becoming a high-ranking official.

Here's a recommendation for my ongoing story next door. Please add it to your reading list: The Country Boy Has a Wild Man for a Husband

Goudan'er lives deep in the mountains. His parents died when he was little, and an old woman raised him. No one ever gave him a proper name, so everyone calls him Goudan'er. He should have been a delicate ge'er, but instead he was given a man's name.

His family is poor and destitute, with only a dilapidated thatched hut.

He's skinny and dark, with an ordinary appearance. At twenty, he still hasn't married and is already an old ge'er no one wants. The only people who hang around him are old bachelors. Everyone says he'll never marry or find the man of his dreams.

Then he rescued a man in the mountains. The man was covered in wounds and drenched in blood. The nights were bitterly cold, so Goudan'er held him close day after day, and the man ended up feeling him up.

The man had hurt his face, and everyone said the two of them were both ugly, a perfect match.

Goudan'er thought so too, but he was too shy to say it.

At first, he worked up the courage to flirt with the man: he showed a smooth shoulder while carrying water, and brushed his tiny foot against the man's big one while fishing.

The man silently watched his clumsy attempts at seduction without saying a word.

Goudan'er blushed first, flustered and at a loss.

Then the man's facial wounds healed, and it turned out he was a handsome man.

Everyone said such a handsome man couldn't stay long in a small mountain village, much less fall for Goudan'er.

Goudan'er thought so too, and didn't dare go near him anymore.

He kept his distance, but the man pressed closer and closer until there was no room left between them.

The man looked at him, red-faced and panting, and whispered, "Are you still going to run away?"

With not a stitch on, Goudan'er had nowhere to hide.

The man really couldn't stay in the small mountain village for long. He took a horse-drawn carriage from the town to the county seat and then all the way to the capital, with Goudan'er, now heavily pregnant, in the carriage.

The man treated him wonderfully. He said meeting him was the greatest fortune of his life, gave him a lovely new name, and promised to be his one and only for life. Even after rising to a position of power, he never let him down and spoiled him to pieces.

The gong starts out with amnesia. If nothing unexpected happens, it's probably the clichéd plot where he rescues a prince.

Later, the gong gives the shou a new name. He won't be called Goudan'er anymore.

The gong might take the imperial examinations and make it to the capital, then, oh wow, I'm a prince!

Theme: If you can't manage your own household, how can you manage the world?