Fu Lin was an ordinary man, a prince, and a coward.
After the marriage agreement, he’d been transported to the Empire of the Blazing Sun under great fanfare, with blessings and flowers thrown from all sides. After arriving at the manor designated to the General’s groom, he was locked up in the house, unable to step out because it was considered inauspicious for the marriage mates to associate with other men and women—in case they came across someone with a misfortunate aura.
And so, after a whole week of boredom during which he tried engaging in a conversation with the servants and miserably failed at it, he gave up trying. Every time he opened his mouth, the “marriage madam,” the head servant, would glare at him and repeat the same sentence.
“Marriage mates should talk less because wordlessness on a young lad can make them dignified and beautiful.”
Even though he couldn’t quite grasp the logic behind it, one thing he definitely knew was that his level of ugly could not be cured with any level of wordlessness. After countless times of eating and sleeping his days off, the wedding day finally arrived.
He was forcibly awakened with a slap to the bum the morning of the wedding, bathed in pomelo water, and perfumed with rose incense. Then draped in a red robe, with his hair tied in countless coloured ribbons and his face was dolled up with liquid gold and rouge. Before he could even glance at his glow-up through the mirror, his face was rolled in a veil, and he was escorted to the front door.
His ears began drumming when cheers erupted like wildfire, signalling that the General had arrived. He couldn’t even sort out what he was feeling before finding himself walking out of the house and feeling the shadow of someone looming over him. The General was walking towards him.
Was this guy…an elephant in his previous life or something? What did he eat to grow this huge?!
Oh no.
His legs inevitably began shaking. He panicked. As a self-aware coward, there was only one type of human being he absolutely detested: people stronger than him. And warriors were at the top of that list.
Though he couldn’t see anything through the veil, the shadow near his feet was a clear-cut expression of the difference in height between them. A difference in height often offered a greater advantage to the taller one, and the shorter cowards like him had zero chance with them.
Cutting his train of thoughts short, a hand was extended towards him.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Lf cfjgis rtja tlwrfio lc ogluta ktfc tf rjk atf rlhf bo atja tjcv. Pa kjr aklmf atf rlhf bo j cbgwji wjc, jcv tf kjr jyrbieafis regf atja atlr kjrc’a atf cbgw. Pc atf regnlnji uelvf obg mbkjgvr, la kjr lwqfgjalnf atja atfs jrrbmljaf klat atbrf mbcrlvfgjyis kfjxfg atjc atfw bg bo fdeji ragfcuat. Ccv lo bcis atf tjcvr kfgf bo atlr ifnfi, tf mbeivc’a lwjulcf ktja afggbg jkjlafv tlw yfsbcv atf nfli.
He reflexively swatted the other’s hand away. He had just… dug himself a grave, didn’t he?
A voice resounded from above “Since the prince has enough strength to push someone’s hand away, I believe he also has enough strength to walk himself up to the palanquin.”
Fu Lin felt like he’d fall over from fright. His voice was very controlled and appeared calm on the surface, but his survival instincts picked up the slightest ripples of anger from those words.
He had angered this man.
He could no longer survive under his roof.
Fu Lin decided in his heart that he’d run away as soon as the wedding was over. In his process of panicking and almost shitting himself, he involuntarily grasped the robe in front of him.
It was fine; the General hadn’t seen his face. If he ran away, there would be no way for him to find himself.
As he was thinking this, he didn’t realise the gravel stone in front of him. With his already wobbly legs and unsteady steps, when his feet slid past the rocky surface, his first instinct was, ‘I’m about to die’.
As his body was about to crash land on the thorny path, an idea popped in his mind. This man in front of him would make for the best human cushion. He thought he’d made the most ingenious move possible when he pushed the General onto the ground.
That was until he realised his veil had been blown away. What in the elephant’s arse!
Now this man knows what his face looks like! How could he run away?!
But this thought only lasted so long until he saw the face of General Haoran.
His lips and jaws looked like they were carved out of stone—the kind of stone that could break a skull or two. He was indescribably shocked when his own eyes collided with those of the other’s, not because his eyes were vindictive or hostile. In reality, they were eyes that resembled a ‘heavy lock’—sturdy, sincere, and dead set. It was the gaze of a man who was dead set on his duty and wouldn’t allow for distractions.
In a nutshell, he was bad news for a weakling.
As he was panicking and got up, he immediately went to look for the veil. The General too began searching for the veil, as if he were repulsed to even look at his face for a second longer. By the time the veil was found, General Haoran’s face was a few shades extra darker.
It wasn’t his fault that the wind blew away his veil though. It’s not like he wanted to show his face.
After that, things were smooth sailing as the General had practically turned into an iceberg and wouldn’t open his mouth for anything, and Fu Lin gracefully sat by himself as they traversed back to the red pavilion.
Upon arrival, they were whisked onto the pavilion stage where the marriage tea ceremony was performed. As they exchanged two cups of tea by hooking each other’s arms, they both avoided each other’s eyes for various reasons. The General’s eyes—like “locks”—scared him for an unknown reason. ‘I’ve seen scarier eyes’, he thought as the General’s face closed in… But this man and his eyes, which are bound by very sparse lashes, aroused a sense of fear and awe.
Fear? He felt it every day. But awe? That was very dangerous. Absolutely dangerous.
After they had drunk tea and paid homage to their ancestors with bows, the most important tradition of all wedding customs under the authority of the Blazing Sun Empire began—the Burning Ceremony.
The ‘Burning Ceremony’ was a marriage tradition exclusive to the Empire of the Blazing Sun where a heated metal tong with the name of one marriage partner was imprinted in the chest of the other partner. A marriage without the ‘Burning Ceremony’ was considered null and illegitimate by the Empire of the Blazing Sun and wasn’t recorded in the official registry of marriage. Marriage was considered an ordeal of a thousand years and separation was rare and discouraged. The ‘Burning Ceremony’ and the burnt mark of the name were a forced discouragement of separation and a physical testament to the lasting effect marriage has on human beings.
When Fu Lin saw the heated tong, his face twisted. Even General Haoran, who was used to all kinds of torture, had an ugly expression on his face.
He looked at the tong that was shaped like the characters for “mosquito” as it approached his chest, extremely repulsed.
“No!” He yelled.
“But, Your Grace, the marriage wouldn’t be legalized if this is not performed,” the blacksmith urged, panicked.
General Haoran couldn’t refute anymore. He palmed his face, exhausted, and said, “Go ahead.”
Haoran didn’t even flinch as the words seared and sizzled onto his chest. Fu Lin wondered whether all warriors had an extra layer of tortoise skin or something. When the tong approached him he nearly ran away. It was the sedan bearers who helped to keep him in place, allowing the
ceremony to conclude. He huffed and blew at his chest, cursing the name “Zhou Haoran” engraved in his chest in beautiful characters.
Fu Lin thought that now that the ceremony was finally over, nothing could be worse than this. However, he had forgotten for a moment that he was a coward when something dark brown flew over and latched onto his underwear.
Fu Lin was an ordinary man.
And a prince.
And a coward.
A coward who believed that one could evade death but not cockroaches.
Hello, I hope Fu Lin’s perspective on things was fun to read! Thank you for reading and commenting (*˘︶˘*).｡.:*♡
Holy muffins! I’m feeling embarrassed for mosquito 🤣🤣🤣🤣. One misfortune upon another 😂😂😂. He keeps losing so much points before his husband.
It was a wonderful marriage😂😂😂😂 the poor Haoran😭😹❤
Poor Haoran got branded with ‘mosquito’.
The Fearful General. 😆
But how do they brand on ladies ? Won’t the husband’s name appear bumpy? 😂😂😂💀
It’s actually my first time reading a BL novel describing an uke as someone who isn’t attractive. Shous are usually feminized for the readers’ satisfaction, so this is a fresh start for me!
I’m glad you’re enjoying it! ヽ(>∀<☆)ノ
How can a chapter be this funny !!! 🤣
Glad to read both side’s PoV..