Jin Bao Can't Handle Hardship (Husband)

Jin Yu was a male spouse. His father was the Minister of Revenue, and his mother was a concubine kept outside the household.

After his mother died, he was left to fend for himself at a country estate, living like a weed.

The second son of the Duke of Zhenguo was a young general. Jin Yu had once seen him from afar while carrying pigweed on his back. The young man galloped past, a sea eagle circling above him. He was the sort of young man Heaven favored.

Jin Bao knew the family had arranged a betrothal for him. Naturally, the one to marry the young general would be the legitimate male spouse of the household.

Jin Bao had never cared about things that had nothing to do with him. But when the Duke of Zhenguo's family fell from grace, his father pushed the marriage onto him.

The emperor sat on his throne and asked Jin Bao with interest, "Would you be willing to follow your husband's family into exile at the border?"

Jin Bao replied, "This commoner is not willing."

The emperor asked, "Why?"

Jin Bao answered, "This commoner cannot bear hardship."

The emperor roared with laughter, and so did all the officials. That day, the Duke of Zhenguo's family lost all face, and the duke was so enraged that he spat blood.

The emperor ordered the entire family sent into exile at the border at once. Jin Bao, who could not bear hardship, had to go with them. He had no say in whom he married.

On their first day at the border, Jin Bao and Li Yansong married. They dared not disobey the emperor's decree.

That night, Jin Bao and Li Yansong consummated their marriage. The next morning, Li Yansong caught Jin Bao red-handed while he was brewing a contraceptive decoction.

Li Yansong's eyes burned red with anger. "Do you really look down on me that much?"

Jin Bao said nothing. He looked at the leaky kitchen, the Duke of Zhenguo coughing up blood, and the two children who had only just reached his knees.

In front of everyone, he drank every last drop of the contraceptive decoction.

He did not want children, nor did he want them to live like weeds, as he had.

After the families arranged their betrothal, Li Yansong had once climbed over the wall to catch a glimpse of his future husband. His temperament and looks were both first-rate, and he excelled at the four arts: the zither, chess, calligraphy, and painting.

But the male spouse his future father-in-law brought to the palace hall that day looked nothing like the one Li Yansong had secretly watched.

His skin was dark and rough, he fumbled through his bow, and the silk clothes he wore looked ridiculous on him.

He had said in the palace hall that he couldn't bear hardship, yet in the end he endured every kind of hardship.

He was not good with words and never smiled at anyone in the family, yet he struggled to keep that broken household going.

After campaigns in the south and the north, the towering imperial palace changed hands. Jin Bao placed a portrait on top of the memorials.

"The emperor needs an heir. It's time to choose consorts."

Li Yansong pinned him into the imperial throne and said, their passion at its height, "You don't love me even when I'm the only one. If there are others, will you still want to stay by my side?"

He kissed the calluses on Jin Bao's palm and said reverently, "You are my mountain. With you here, I feel at peace."

Theme: Life must always turn toward the light