[Bickering Couple, Sweet Romance] [Marriage Before Love]
Ji Yanzhi, son of Yangzhou's richest man, is handsome and exceptionally refined.
He knew a thousand characters at three and mastered poetry and prose at five. A born prodigy.
At eight, a wandering Taoist passed through and read his fortune: his fate bore the Huagai star, and he was destined to become either a monk or a Taoist priest.
Growing up, Ji Yanzhi proved the Taoist right. He spoke of Buddha and expounded on Zen. So devoted was he to becoming a monk that he even spread rumors himself that he was impotent, hoping to put an end to his family's plans to find him a spouse.
Ji Yanzhi's father was alarmed and feared his family line would die out. After prayers and consultations with fortune-tellers came to nothing, he spent a fortune taking an unorthodox route and found a clever, pretty "bird" to hold down this "Huagai star."
Lian Shuangque was that bird.
She had bad luck from the day she was born. Her family fell into ruin when she was still a baby.
But her father was lucky. In his thirties, he passed the highest imperial examination.
He made a comeback and leapt up the social ladder. After many twists and turns, her family had even become one of the most prominent ninth-rank clans.
The marriage agreement made on a whim long ago didn't seem good enough anymore.
What do you do when a match isn't good enough? Break off the engagement, of course.
So, on the day of Ji Yanzhi's capping ceremony, she arrived bedecked in jewels and full of swagger, leading two armed entourages, and barged right in.
She plopped herself down and said something that left everyone in the room dumbfounded.
"I don't want a rooster that can't lay eggs!"
Ji Yanzhi was equally astonished.
But he was astonished because his father had lied.
This young lady wasn't very clever, but with her almond-shaped eyes and jade-like nose, and skin smooth as cream, she was truly... beautiful.
So beautiful, he wanted to build her a golden house and keep her cherished inside it.
1. A proud, demanding heroine who hopes her father will become a dragon; a sanctimonious hero who falls in love with his wife at first sight, while she mistakenly thinks he's impotent. After they marry, he's forced to drink virility-boosting, kidney-tonifying soup every day.
Theme: A good night's sleep is the best kind of happiness
