(Main story complete)
Shen Mingyu had a hard life from the time she was little.
When she was sixteen, she ran away to escape being sold off. She'd heard that in Baiyun Village, twenty li away, a young man wanted a wife and had offered the matchmaker thirty taels.
Thirty taels.
Shen Mingyu's eyes lit up, and she went straight to his door with her bundle on her back.
He was a poor soul, with no parents and no one to rely on since childhood. The young man was a little green, but he was honest, capable, and hardworking.
He was someone she could marry.
To win him over, Shen Mingyu would call him “Lang” with a beaming smile, fuss over him day and night, mend his clothes, and make flower-shaped pastries by hand.
Eventually, the two of them got married.
In the second year of their marriage, Shen Mingyu unexpectedly discovered that she wasn't a peasant girl at all. She was the real daughter of a marquis's household, switched at birth with another child.
She ran away, taking Pei Shumin's money and leaving behind an IOU apologizing for it. She needed the money to travel to the capital and search for her family.
*
Pei Shumin had no parents and grew up alone in the village.
He learned to wash clothes and cook at five, chop firewood in the mountains at eight, and carry his game to town to sell at ten. Thanks to his cleverness, by the time he was seventeen, he had saved up a substantial sum for a bride.
Like most ordinary men, young Pei Shumin planned to use the money to marry and start a family.
Then a girl entered his barren life and gave him a warmth he'd never known before.
In his seventeen years of life, he learned for the first time what it meant to have a home.
But later, Shen Mingyu vanished, taking all his money with her.
At that moment, Pei Shumin stared at the empty house and let out a miserable laugh.
*
After the marquis's household acknowledged her as their daughter, Shen Mingyu began living in the lap of luxury.
The first thing she did after returning home was
think of her former husband, far away in Baiyun Village.
Shen Mingyu wanted to bring him to the capital, but the rules of the marquis's household would not allow it.
So she had someone send him three thousand taels as repayment. She also hoped Pei Shumin would forget their marriage and find someone else.
Half a month later, he returned the three thousand taels untouched, without a single word.
She had done all she could. If he wouldn't take it, there was nothing Shen Mingyu could do.
She went on enjoying her own luxurious life.
Until months later, the emperor passed away and the crown prince ascended the throne.
She heard that the crown prince had gone missing as a child and spent more than a decade wandering in the countryside before being found. He was well-read, skilled at riding and archery, young and handsome, and perfect in every way, except that he had no interest in women and didn't want to choose a consort. The old ministers were beside themselves with worry.
Wandering in the countryside?
Shen Mingyu thought that, given how similar their experiences were, they might have plenty to talk about. If the new emperor liked her, she could rise to great heights.
Shen Mingyu eagerly went to the banquet, confident she'd win him over, until she suddenly saw a face identical to her former husband's, glaring at her darkly across the palace hall.
*
After all, they had been married for a year, and Shen Mingyu knew that although Pei Shumin was honest and hardworking, he was the sort of man who always paid back a grudge.
She'd done something she felt guilty about, and feared his revenge.
She no longer wanted to marry into the imperial family. Instead, she set her sights on a general who had just returned to court, and hurriedly asked her family to arrange the match.
A marquis's daughter marrying a general, a beauty matched with a hero.
On her wedding day, gongs and drums filled the streets, and a grand procession of wedding gifts stretched for miles. The city was in a festive uproar, and everyone praised the couple as a match made in heaven.
Yet on their wedding night, the bride mysteriously disappeared.
[Bonus Scene]
The despair of being deceived, the fury of being abandoned, and the cold renunciation of love after ascending the throne.
Pei Shumin thought he hated her with all his heart.
Later, when the emperor visited the marquis's residence, he happened to see a little baby in the bright spring sunshine. The child was only two years old, sitting beneath the eaves with a book in his hands. He clearly couldn't read, but pretended to anyway, swaying his head back and forth.
A servant said the little young master was a child the eldest young master had picked up.
Pei Shumin gave a brief acknowledgment and was about to leave when he caught sight of the child's face, identical to his own.
His expression changed at once, and he fell into deep thought...
[Reading Guide]
1. The heroine really is a good girl. She may have her own little schemes, but she's kind-hearted. Both of them had their own difficulties when she ran away, and there were other reasons too. Things weren't simply as the synopsis makes them seem from the hero's perspective.
[The hero's perspective differs from the full story] [The specific reasons are spoilers, so I won't go into detail.]
2. To be clear! The heroine is resilient and kind. The synopsis is told from the hero's perspective, not an omniscient one. At heart, the heroine really is a tough, down-to-earth, adorable girl. She's a little street-smart, but she also secretly fell in love.
3. This story may not suit readers who are strongly attached to either the heroine or the hero.
If you have high standards for an author's writing, feel free to find another great read. I suggest buying one chapter at a time, and stopping if you don't like it. (This is important.) I don't think I deserve your buying the whole book, so if you do, it's a lucky break for me and my little one. QAQ
4. You can scroll down to the lower left to see the character designs. Aren't they super cute?
2025.10.23 (Date the blurb was first posted)
Coming Next
“After a Night of Passion with the Demon Lord” If you're interested, come take a look!
The world-destroying Demon Lord was hunting down the heroine when he accidentally fell into her trap and became pregnant with her child.
Blurb:
Pei Xuan was the world-destroying Demon Lord, whose name struck terror throughout the Six Realms.
During a battle between the immortals and demons, Pei Xuan chased the last goddess to a cliffside cave, intent on killing her.
But the goddess was so cunning that he accidentally fell into her trap. When he woke up, he felt something was wrong with his body.
And something really was wrong.
His belly was growing bigger by the day.
Pei Xuan was furious and incredulous, but consulting every famous doctor he could find got him nowhere. Two months later, amid a cramping pain in his abdomen, he actually laid an egg!
Pei Xuan stared strangely at the plump white egg.
The veins on the back of his hand bulged, red and swollen.
When he asked what to do with it, his subordinates were at a loss too. They racked their brains, then finally stammered, “My lord, since it's already out, why don't... incubate it and see what hatches?”
Qi Yao was a genius girl, born with exceptional talent. At a young age, she joined a cultivation sect, the Hehuan Sect.
She went into the mountains to gather medicine for her ailing senior sister, and somehow ended up being chased by a monster to the edge of a cliff.
With nowhere else to turn, she used the Hehuan Sect's secret technique to trap the monster in an illusion.
To make sure he slept more deeply, she worked hard to weave a beautiful dream, including but not limited to a loving marriage, passionate union, and wild nights together... She would wait until he was fast asleep, then make a quick escape.
But the mountains were full of chores and dangers, and Qi Yao soon forgot all about it.
Four months later.
Qi Yao was practicing spells with her senior sisters when the sky suddenly darkened with clouds. Someone smashed through the sect's protective barrier, and a panicked voice shouted, “The Demon Lord Pei Xuan is here!”
The female cultivators scattered in terror. A fierce gale swept in, cutting off every route of escape for Qi Yao.
In the thick fog, she saw the monster that had once chased her. So that was the Demon Lord!
The massive shadow in black robes drew closer, one step at a time.
The Demon Lord Pei Xuan looked ready to attack, his brow furrowed. Qi Yao was so frightened she couldn't make a sound.
But the closer he got, the more the egg in Pei Xuan's arms began to move. “Mama! Mama! I'm right here!”
The senior sisters, who had been fleeing in every direction, froze.
Qi Yao froze too.
Only Pei Xuan stared at her expressionlessly. “I incubated this egg for two months. It's been making noise nonstop. When are you coming to take it?”
[Bonus Scene]
The fiftieth day of the Demon Lord's egg-incubating duty.
Pei Xuan was meditating with his eyes closed. Just as he was about to focus his energy in his dantian, he heard a childish voice cry, “Daddy, I want Mama! I want Mama!”
Pei Xuan's eyes snapped open. He glared at the fat egg in the luxurious nest beside him. “Quiet. I don't know who your mother is.”
The egg, aggrieved: “Daddy...”
Pei Xuan's gaze suddenly lowered, heavy and still. He remembered the dream of pouring rain, the warm red bridal curtains, and the girl who had once nestled against him...
But later, she forgot everything.
[Reading Guide]
1. The heroine is a member of the divine race, the last fire phoenix. She's born from an egg. But she has divine power that lets the man lay eggs instead.
Blurb: 2026.4.11
Message: Don't bully honest people.
Did you write about Pei Lang and Mingyu's wedding night first?
Childhood sweethearts update tonight
How about Miaochun Grassland Travel Notes [Like]
I want to see Xiao Baoer's extras! So cute
The gentle and brave Mingyu sister [crying] It would be great if the adoptive father who named her sister was here, at least there was someone who really loved her during her childhood.
22[Orange candy] I got [Purple candy] kswl [Purple candy] kswl
Who received Mingyu and Shumin's Baji, Xiaoka and Xiaolipai [sunglasses]
It's me [laughing] [laughing]
Ahhhh, I can't bear to let it go, it's about to end! Looking forward to the rest of the episode! !
We have been childhood sweethearts for a long time, but we are also very satisfied [Love Eyes] Looking forward to the remaining extras [Star Eyes]
[Orange candy] I got it [Orange candy] I got it [Orange candy] I got it [Orange candy] I got it [Orange candy] I got it
Did you write about Pei Lang and Mingyu's wedding night first?
Childhood sweethearts update tonight
How about Miaochun Grassland Travel Notes [Like]
I want to see Xiao Baoer's extras! So cute
The gentle and brave Mingyu sister [crying] It would be great if the adoptive father who named her sister was here, at least there was someone who really loved her during her childhood.
22[Orange candy] I got [Purple candy] kswl [Purple candy] kswl
Who received Mingyu and Shumin's Baji, Xiaoka and Xiaolipai [sunglasses] It's me [laughing] [laughing]
Ahhhh, I can't bear to let it go, it's about to end! Looking forward to the rest of the episode! !
We have been childhood sweethearts for a long time, but we are also very satisfied [Love Eyes] Looking forward to the remaining extras [Star Eyes]
[Orange candy] I got it [Orange candy] I got it [Orange candy] I got it [Orange candy] I got it [Orange candy] I got it