The First Minister

◆ The heroine is the strongest. Not a 1v1 romance, no cheating or promiscuity allowed, some ensemble cast elements. Content notes are in the author's note of Chapter One. My next story, Political Rivals, is coming soon. Please add it to your reading list; its blurb is at the end. After placing first in the imperial examinations, top scholar Lu Mingfu defies the emperor in the Golden Palace and refuses to marry the princess. The very next day, he brings home his childhood sweetheart, a coarse girl who can't read a single character. Everyone says the top scholar Lu is devoted and honorable, but no one expects their marriage to be an unhappy one. On the first day of marriage, they treat each other like ice. On the second day, they treat each other like enemies. On the third day, they treat each other like the dead. On the fourth day, Lu Mingfu is demoted for opposing Hanlin Shen's reforms. His childhood sweetheart may not be very bright, but she's no fool. When she hears what happened, she runs off on her own, afraid of being implicated, and falls off a cliff along the way, leaving no body behind. Just as everyone laments that married couples are birds of the same forest who fly apart when disaster strikes, the newly appointed Zheng Zhushi pleads Lu Mingfu's case, asking the emperor to revoke his order. Thanks to this, Lu avoids being demoted. But no one knows that this Zheng Zhushi is none other than Lu Mingfu's illiterate childhood sweetheart and wife. With no other choice, Zheng Qingrong disguises herself as a man to save her husband and embarks on the point-of-no-return path of becoming a court official. After earning merit, she rises from a lowly recorder to a Zhushi of the eighth rank. Her first order of business is to rescue her husband. Not long afterward, Lu Mingfu is restored to his former post, then demoted for a second time for supporting Hanlin Shen's reforms. Without a word, Zheng Qingrong gets promoted to Yuanwailang and rescues her husband. Lu Mingfu is demoted for the third time. Zheng Qingrong becomes a Langzhong and rescues her husband. Lu Mingfu is demoted for the fourth time. Zheng Qingrong becomes a Shilang and rescues her husband. As she keeps rescuing him, Zheng Qingrong overcomes every obstacle and rises all the way to chancellor. The court is in an uproar over this young man, who has risen so swiftly to the highest position in government in less than a few years, all before turning twenty. Seeing how this young man, who is no relation to Lu Mingfu, has saved him time and again, the officials speculate about their relationship and can't resist teasing them. "Top Scholar Lu, if you're demoted again, Chancellor Zheng may have no choice but to join the imperial harem just to rescue you." Zheng Qingrong: "Why wouldn't seizing the throne count as joining the imperial palace?" Lu Mingfu: "May His Majesty reign wisely for ten thousand years, ten thousand years, ten thousand times ten thousand years!" Blurb for the upcoming story, Political Rivals The Left Chancellor, Shangguan Fu, and the Right Chancellor, Huo Lijie, are sworn enemies. They clash in court, trade blows in secret, and are determined to fight to the death. Shangguan Fu has been frail and sickly since childhood. Years of political maneuvering against Huo Lijie have worn her body down, and she finally falls ill during one of their confrontations. Huo Lijie comes to mock her, only to see Shangguan Fu's pale face and the broken look in her eyes. He thinks that being beautiful is one thing, but being beautiful and a little sickly is inexplicably hard to look away from. Just as he's about to sneer and declare his victory, Shangguan Fu catches him off guard, grabs his lapel, and kisses him fiercely in her final moments. Only then does Huo Lijie realize that the person who has been his mortal enemy in and out of court is a woman. He exhausts every resource to save Shangguan Fu, wanting to ask her to her face why she did it. But as Shangguan Fu feels her chronic illness gradually recede, she only smiles and says nothing. She simply wanted to disgust you, so you'd bring out the medicine that could save her. Seeing the shy (self-)conscious (imaginary) look in her eyes, Huo Lijie becomes even more convinced of his theory. She must be in love with me. After that, the officials notice that the Right Chancellor no longer goes head-to-head with the Left Chancellor. Instead, he awkwardly tries to get close to her. But the Left Chancellor doesn't reciprocate, and continues to deal with the Right Chancellor with an iron fist, even more harshly than before. Huo Lijie pays no mind to the officials' gossip. What do they know? This is romantic tension. As for Shangguan Fu's successive attacks on him, Huo Lijie enjoys every one. But as he keeps enjoying them, he realizes that he has lost power without even noticing, and that the Left Chancellor now dominates the court. Only then does Huo Lijie catch on. That night, he storms into Shangguan Fu's room and demands angrily, "Don't you love me?" A flash of steel, and Shangguan Fu stabs him, smiling as she says, "Look, how can the blood running between our fingers not count as the red thread that binds us?" Huo Lijie will never forget how deeply Shangguan Fu's mockery cut that night. He goes mad with the desire to take revenge on her, but Shangguan Fu has already devoured and destroyed his power. With nothing left, Huo Lijie goes to Shangguan Fu once more, his pride utterly broken. "I have nowhere else to go but to you." "I've already used the trick of pretending to yield so the enemy will advance deeper." Shangguan Fu grips his chin and looks down at him. "Now you, get down on your knees and crawl in." ◆ The cover background image is by artist Mo Ye Xingchen. "To avoid future disputes, this blurb was written on June 14, 2023, and has been screenshotted as proof." Theme: The road is winding, but the future is bright