The Sickly Beauty I Picked Up as My Husband

A few things to know before reading: This is a farming story, with both leads inexperienced in love. The bottom is a vicious, calculating beauty who's always ill; the top is a rugged country man.

I:

Zhou Sui's mother was gravely ill. Her only wish before she died was for him to start a family.

The village matchmakers came rushing over as soon as they heard, each vying to ask about his requirements.

Zhou Sui glanced at his elderly mother and said helplessly, "Someone strong and healthy, who'll be good at having children. Not too delicate, and not too pretty."

The matchmakers agreed with a smile and left.

That very night, Zhou Sui found a man washed up on the shore, frail and so beautiful he hardly looked human.

II:

Pei Mu was so clever he seemed almost demonic, but his chronically sickly body kept his ambitions out of reach, leaving him to serve as an adviser to the Third Prince.

When the hare was dead, the hounds were cooked. Pei Mu fled overseas to a neighboring country right in front of the Third Prince, setting a fire in the capital as he left and inciting the princes to rebel, plunging the dynasty into chaos.

But no amount of plotting could protect him from disaster. A shipwreck left him rescued by someone else.

At first, he couldn't stand the man and only wanted to recover quickly and leave.

Later, Pei Mu decided that the man might be dull, boring, stiff, and annoying, but he did have a nice body.

III:

After much deliberation, the matchmaker finally picked a suitable candidate and went to ask Zhou Sui about him.

As soon as she entered the courtyard, she heard an unfamiliar, pleasant male voice say, "Zhou Sui, I don't want to sit in the sun anymore. Carry me back."

She stared in astonishment as the tall, silent man swept the handsome, slender man in the courtyard into his arms and carried him tenderly back inside.

"..."

Weren't you supposed to want someone who wasn't too pretty or delicate?

Theme: ...