The Bandit Hides His Beauty

Writing this made me question my whole life, so I'm not updating this story anymore. My previous book flopped even though I thought I'd learned from my mistakes, and I still have no idea why. So I've been writing this one with a lot of self-doubt. If I figure out the appeal of this premise someday, I'll come back to it. I can write novels, but I don't understand how to write novels.

An Huaixiu is the pampered young master of the county magistrate's household. His father wants wealth and status, so he plans to give him to a bandit chief as a husband.

The bandit chief is old, with a full beard, dark and ugly, and a face covered in fleshy lumps.

Hoping to ruin his own reputation, An Huaixiu buys a slave and keeps him at home. But the slave turns out to be rather unruly.

On his wedding day, he runs away and meets the slave on the road.

With pursuers on their heels, An Huaixiu has no choice but to beg the slave to take him to safety. Blushing, he promises to become the slave's husband.

The slave hides him in the mountains, where there are few homes nearby, and reassures him that he will take him back down once things have settled.

Every day, An Huaixiu diligently follows the slave to work the fields. Whenever the slave goes out, he locks the door and stays home, obediently making delicious food and warming the bed for his husband to return to.

They raise chickens, ducks, and pigs, and earn a little money gathering wild produce. His husband occasionally goes hunting and brings in the big money. Their life is happy and perfect.

Until one day, his husband hides him in a panic, and An Huaixiu sees him call the bandit chief "Boss."

Yu Yanzhe was sent by the bandit chief to infiltrate the county magistrate's household, in case the magistrate tried to pull anything.

Who wouldn't like a pretty, bright young master? Yu Yanzhe was only supposed to keep an eye on him, but the more he watched, the more captivated he became.

On the day An Huaixiu was to be married, Yu Yanzhe returned to report to his boss, then followed the wedding procession almost without thinking.

Just as he was about to intercept the wedding, the beautiful young master came running toward him in layers of red wedding robes. With tearful eyes, he clutched Yu Yanzhe and said, "Take me away! I'd rather be your servant and do any kind of hard labor than marry that old geezer!"

Yu Yanzhe took him and hid him in the bandits' lair.

When the bandit chief discovered Yu Yanzhe's husband, Yu Yanzhe had no choice but to rebel and seize the mountain.

War raged outside, but their mountain was a peaceful utopia. They raised chickens, ducks, pigs, and dogs, and expanded their territory to grow crops.

Who says we're bandits? We're just an ordinary little mountain village.

Theme: If you can't keep your own house in order, how can you govern the world?