A Match Made in Heaven

Arranged marriage, then love | Complete strangers | Love grows over time | The male lead falls first

(Delicate, refined young lady from a distinguished family x Wild, fierce, rugged general)

Xu Shaojun, only daughter of the newly appointed Director of the Imperial Academy, was betrothed to Han Gun, a rough-and-ready general and rising star at court.

Raised in a distinguished family of the former dynasty, she was a refined young lady, well-read and beautiful in both appearance and spirit. She liked gentle, graceful scholars.

After more than a decade of battles and campaigns, the general was like a wild horse, and hated people with too many rules or too many arguments more than anything.

Yet the Empress arranged their marriage, binding them together.

At first, Han Gun did not care about this marriage. It was not as though he had a choice.

So, whether he was leading a northern expedition against the remnants of the former dynasty, aiding the families of fallen soldiers, or hunting down spies and assassins, he gave the marriage no thought at all.

His new bride was just barely easy on the eyes, and her sharp tongue was always getting in his face. Han Gun could hardly bear to be around her.

Until he found her meeting her former lover in a teahouse.

"You don't care for me, yet you expect me to be devoted to you?"

They first met on their wedding day. He had broad shoulders and a thick chest, and his powerful muscles strained against his wedding robes. His gaze was sharp, his presence fierce.

Xu Shaojun: ...Barbarian.

She only wanted to make do for a couple of years. Every grievance and humiliation would become bargaining chips when she asked for a divorce later.

She could not say when it began, but he changed.

--

Later, on countless hot, damp nights, he held her from behind, his chin resting in the hollow of her shoulder. He took the hand she used to write and crossed out one line after another in her divorce manual.

"Aren't you the one who cares most about reason? Hmm?"

Xu Shaojun leaned limply against him, too weak to speak.

(An excerpt for your enjoyment, coming soon)

Painting was one of Xu Shaojun's strengths. Her copies of old masters' works were nearly indistinguishable from the originals.

While copying a painting for the Empress, she heard someone come to pay their respects.

A painted screen stood between them, so she could not see who it was. She only heard cheerful conversation.

The Empress said, "General Han Gun, come and give your opinion on this ancient painting."

Xu Shaojun pricked up her ears, expecting some brilliant insight. After waiting for a long while, all she heard was a low, magnetic voice saying, "That sparrow's so scrawny there's barely enough meat on it to make soup!"

At that moment, she was copying a bird in the painting. Xu Shaojun: ...

Xu Shaojun did not yet know that the Empress would betroth her to this vulgar General Han.

When she received the news, it was as if she had been struck on the back of the head. Xu Shaojun was completely stunned.

After the wedding.

Han Gun returned to the residence, taking long, quick strides. A handsome, imposing man walked beside him. They entered through the main gate, passed through the hanging-flower gate, and went into the study.

"Sit."

Han Gun raised a hand, then froze. He turned and called for the steward.

"What's going on?"

The steward explained, "Madam's study was missing a desk, so we moved this one over for her to use. It's not as if the General usually reads or writes anyway."

"Oh?" His friend perked up. "Your sister-in-law has set up a study? No wonder she's from a scholarly family."

Han Gun demanded to know why they had not bought his wife a new desk.

The steward pleaded poverty. "Madam said it herself: the General's salary is only so much, and more than half of it has to go elsewhere. We should save where we can. She said that if the General asked, we should tell him to make do."

"Madam brought people in to build the bookshelves she wanted herself. She said the mismatched tables and chairs in each room could be made over time, and she'd paint all the decorations herself, the pictures and screens. Madam also painted something for the General's study. Look."

Everyone turned to the newly added painting on the wall. Several ducks swam in the water, with a few peach blossoms in the distance. The inscription read, "Spring warmth on the river."

"Madam said that although the family is a little short on money and has to save here and there, she could at least paint the General's ducks nice and plump."

The ducks in the painting were indeed different from the birds usually depicted. They were particularly fat.

[Reading notes:]

- A sweet, lighthearted story about life after marriage

- A beauty meets a beast. They're complete strangers, and neither has had a secret crush on the other.

- A big difference in build, complexion, and age, with a ten-year age gap. Both are chaste, one-on-one romance.

Theme: Rely on each other while remaining independent