The Sickly Prime Minister Runs Away Pregnant

[Warning: Over-the-top, old-school, first-love white-moonlight, pregnancy, run-away-with-the-baby, and groveling-for-forgiveness drama!]

Cold, sinister emperor x sickly beauty of a chancellor. They sleep together before falling in love, followed by angst and dog-training romance.

Shen Rong was as lovely as his name suggested, beautiful and radiant. He became the Crown Prince's companion at six and Chancellor at twenty, while still a young man just come of age. He had never faced a setback and was the very picture of a heaven-blessed prodigy. In his life, he had made only one mistake.

Emperor Chengyou got drunk at the Longevity Festival and grabbed Shen Rong by the wrist. The hibiscus curtains fell, spring unfolded in all its beauty, and the candlelight flickered dimly.

The emperor was overcome with passion, but called out the childhood name of a general stationed far away on the frontier.

Shen Rong submitted to it all, and in return, the emperor grew addicted to him and only became more demanding.

Three months later, Chancellor Shen, standing at the front of the court, was drenched in cold sweat. He could barely hold his jade tablet. If the emperor hadn't personally come down from the dais to steady him, he would have collapsed in front of everyone.

After dismissing the imperial physicians, Shen Rong leaned against the palace wall and vomited until the world spun around him.

Shen Rong could no longer pretend nothing had happened.

When he was little, a master had read his fate: as long as he avoided passion and ambition, he would become a worthy minister, uphold the realm, and bring peace to the land. Shen Rong had always worked toward that future, but...

In the end, he had broken his vow.

The Chancellor Shen, who held power over the court and enjoyed the emperor's favor, was in the prime of his life. Yet he submitted a memorial asking to retire and return to his hometown, along with a jade pendant engraved in crooked characters with the emperor's childhood name, seemingly still warm from its owner's touch.

The memorial contained just eight words:

Whatever Your Majesty bestowed upon me, I return to its rightful owner.

The emperor, who had always hidden his emotions, suddenly went mad.

At some point, a Mr. Shen appeared in a distant Jiangnan town, often carrying a beautiful baby in his arms.

Everyone said the baby was lovely, but Mr. Shen was even lovelier.

Then, at some point, a scoundrel began hanging around Mr. Shen's door, impossible to chase away.

People also said the scoundrel was such a nuisance, blocking Mr. Shen's door every day. Couldn't he see that Mr. Shen seemed ill and kept vomiting? Yet he still wouldn't let a doctor in to examine him!

[Content warnings]

1. There is no general in love with the emperor. The first love is the receiving lead himself; they just misunderstand each other. Yes, it's that kind of old-school melodrama.

2. The most over-the-top plot points are already in the blurb. The characters' values aren't the author's values. If you can't accept that, please don't read. Thanks.

3. This is fiction written to indulge my own tastes. Though they're an emperor and a chancellor, both leads are hopeless romantics. If you can't accept that, please don't read.

4. It's obvious from the blurb, but there is a second pregnancy plotline. In this setting, men generally can't give birth, but the receiving lead's family has a special bloodline that gives them a chance of doing so. If you can't accept that, please don't read.

5. Once again, this has an extremely old-school, over-the-top plot and setting!!!

Theme: Achieve success through your own efforts