My Husband is a Drama King [Book Transmigration] 1

Chapter 1: Transmigrated into a Book

On a small road in Qishan Village, just as the sun was setting, many villagers were returning from the fields with hoes over their shoulders.

“Matchmaker Shen, I heard a long time ago that the Song family was going to arrange a marriage with the Xu family. Are you just coming back from the Xus’?” The one who spoke was Auntie Fang. Her family owned ten acres of prime paddy fields in the village and lived quite well.

But they were still a step below the Song and Xu families, who were the most prominent households in Qishan Village.

The Song family had two brothers. The elder one was washed away on a rainy day, leaving only the younger one alive. This Song Ye who survived was the only male heir of the Song family, and he inherited all the family’s land.

Song Ye’s family had two sons. The elder son was a ge’er, and the second son was a boy named Song Changxu. He was exceptionally handsome, but his personality wasn’t very agreeable. Because he was a scholar who could read, he was often arrogant and looked down on everyone else.

Being the sole male heir of his generation, he was spoiled by everyone in the family. He had a bad temper and no real skills. After so many years of study, he couldn’t even write a proper couplet; his handwriting looked like a dog’s scratching.

Matchmaker Shen smiled, her eyes crinkling. “I was just playing matchmaker for the two families. They’re already engaged. You all just wait to be invited to the wedding feast.”

She had received a good sum of silver for arranging the match between the Song and Xu families, so she was in a fine mood and couldn’t help but say a few more words. “The betrothal gifts from the Song family were more than generous. The betrothal money was wrapped in red paper, and I could feel it was a hefty amount. There were wedding cakes, a bronze basin, a mirror, scissors, salt, pork…”

Auntie Fang was dumbfounded. “The Song family really spared no expense.”

That Xu Zhizhou had some beauty and a very fine figure, but there was no need to spend so many valuable things to marry him.

If these betrothal gifts were for the Xu family’s eldest ge’er, that would have been worth it. This Xu Zhizhou was not as virtuous and capable as Xu Zhici.

More people were coming and going from the fields, and upon seeing Matchmaker Shen, they all came over to ask if there was some good news in their village.

“The moment I see Matchmaker Shen, I know there’s good news in our village,” one of the men said.

“Ah, isn’t it just that the Song family’s second son and the Xu family’s second ge’er are engaged? When a man comes of age, he should marry, and when a ge’er comes of age, he should be wed. It’s nothing rare.”

Several men laughed. “If those two families are holding a wedding, our village will be lively for days. We must go and have a good meal at the banquet.”

Just talking about the feast made their mouths water.

Matchmaker Shen said, “I won’t dally any longer. I need to hurry back.”

Now that the matter was settled, she was eager to go home and count her money.

When Auntie Fang returned home, she stretched her neck to glance at the Song family’s courtyard, only hearing the sound of Song Ye herding the chickens and ducks into their coop.

She wondered if the Xu family’s second ge’er‘s temper would clash with the Song family’s after he married over.

The Xu family was also a prominent household in their village, so a marriage with the Song family was a match of equal social standing. Xu Zhici had been betrothed to Xie Huai’an from the neighboring village, but Xie Huai’an had gone to join the army, and the marriage had been delayed ever since. Otherwise, Xu Zhizhou would not have been allowed to marry before Xu Zhici. It was not good to break the proper order of seniority.

As for that ge’er Xu Zhizhou, Auntie Fang shook her head just thinking about him. Arrogant, high-maintenance, and troublesome.

Both Song Changxu and Xu Zhizhou were arrogant. With those two thrown together as a couple, their days would likely be utter chaos.

Auntie Fang went to the kitchen to wash the rice, planning to cook dinner before her family returned.

At this time of day, it was usually the women and ge’ers of the household who returned first. The men, upon returning, would still have to go up the mountain to cut and chop firewood. Men had greater strength and were expected to do more work, while women and ge’ers busied themselves in the kitchen.

After penning the chickens and ducks, Song Ye walked into the kitchen and saw Song Mingyan starting a fire to cook. He handed three eggs to Song Mingyan. “Make some steamed eggs later.”

Song Mingyan nodded. “I know, Father.”

It was not proper for a man to linger in the kitchen, so Song Ye went outside to cool off. The family still had plenty of firewood; he had cut a large amount from the back mountain a few days ago, enough to last half a month. He had also bought three catties of pork from the town.

Buying the pork was secondary; the main reason for the trip was to purchase the betrothal gifts for the Xu family. A marriage could not be treated casually. Song Changxu was the only boy in the Song family, so this was of the utmost importance.

The Song family’s courtyard was kept tidy. A tall, old locust tree stood with lush branches and leaves. Song Ye lay on a chair with a cattail-leaf fan, fanning himself slowly.

***

The next day, in the fields.

“Song Changxu, you and Xu Zhizhou are already engaged. You’re fiancés now. Shouldn’t you be helping Zhizhou chop firewood?”

“You’re getting married soon, can’t you even help with something so small? Are a scholar’s hands really that precious?”

A group of ge’ers with baskets on their backs, looking as if they were heading to the back mountain to cut firewood, were all speaking to a young man.

“Song Changxu, can’t you just chop some firewood? You’re just like those young masters in the city, whose fingers have never touched spring water.”

…

Xu Zhizhou was both shy and annoyed. “Stop talking. I’ll chop my own firewood. We’re not married yet, it wouldn’t sound good if word got out.”

With that, he turned and ran off with his basket.

“Zhizhou, that’s not what we meant,” a ge’er said hurriedly.

“Song Changxu, hurry up and chase after Xu Zhizhou!” another ge’er urged, raising an eyebrow and stomping his foot.

Song Changxu only felt a sharp pain in his head, a buzzing in his ears. Fragments of memories flashed through his mind.

He had transmigrated into a book. This book was about the love story between the protagonist gong, Xie Huai’an, and the protagonist shou, Xu Zhici. Xie Huai’an and Xu Zhici were engaged, but Xie Huai’an joined the army, delaying the marriage. Later, after attaining an official rank, Xie Huai’an returned to his hometown to marry Xu Zhici. During this period, a ge’er from an official’s family who had a crush on Xie Huai’an created obstacles for their marriage, but in the end, the two overcame the challenges and got together.

Xu Zhici had a drama king younger brother, Xu Zhizhou, who repeatedly played pranks on Xie Huai’an. He was vulgar, greedy, and materialistic, causing the protagonist gong to despise him. However, out of respect for Xu Zhici, he still showed Xu Zhizhou some consideration.

And he had become Xu Zhizhou’s fiancé, who, later in the story, unable to pass the xiucai examination and unreconciled to his failure, squandered the family fortune on retaking it. After failing, he descended into alcoholism and accidentally beat Xu Zhizhou to death. ( T/n: Xiucai (秀才): A scholar who has passed the county-level imperial examination. It’s the first and lowest degree in the examination system)

This original body of his was not a good person. Having been spoiled since childhood, he had developed a selfish personality. After Xu Zhizhou married the original owner, his beautiful appearance made the original owner restrain his temper for a while and indulge Xu Zhizhou a few times. But after the novelty wore off, he grew impatient with Xu Zhizhou.

He locked the man at home and forbade him from going out, afraid he would go to the capital to complain to his brother. In the end, Xu Zhizhou died at the original owner’s hands.

The original owner’s evil deeds were eventually discovered, and Xu Zhici avenged his brother. But the dead could not be brought back, and it was all for naught.

“Song Changxu, why aren’t you chasing Xu Zhizhou yet?” a ge’er urged when he saw Song Changxu still standing in place.

The others joined in, their jeering growing louder.

Song Changxu: “…”

So the question is, do I chase him or do I chase him? I’m a straight man, and homophobic.

He chose to go straight back home.

Under the stunned gazes of the group of ge’ers, Song Changxu left the fields and headed home.

Sun Ge’er watched Song Changxu’s retreating back and stomped his foot in anger. “Why didn’t that Song Changxu chase after Zhizhou? What a heartless, rotten man!”

“They’re already engaged, yet he’s still so cold. Song Changxu is as arrogant as ever, can’t even take a little joke.”

“It looks like he won’t treat Zhizhou well in the future. Will he be tormented after he marries him?”

Sun Ge’er spat a few times. “What pessimistic things are you all saying? It’s only just begun, don’t jump to conclusions so early. Zhizhou will definitely be happy in the future.”

“Let’s not talk about this. We should hurry and find Zhizhou.”

Sun Ge’er said, “We can’t joke like this in the future. I can see Song Changxu can’t take a joke. Besides, it’s their life to live. We shouldn’t interfere.”

When it came to Song Changxu, the ge’ers of Qishan Village didn’t have a deep impression of him. The members of the Song family were all good-looking, but Song Changxu often looked at them with disgust, so they didn’t like to interact with him.

He spent most of his days studying at Scholar Li’s house in the neighboring Linshui Village, so they rarely crossed paths.

Meanwhile, Song Changxu followed the memories in his mind back to the Song residence. The winding, brownish dirt road, the occasional bark of a dog echoing through the village, the houses mostly made of mud, with soil crumbling from the corners—the buildings looked mottled and dilapidated.

The eaves were made of black tiles, and the country road was uneven. Red snakeberries were hidden in the grass along the sides. A weeping willow in the village swayed with the wind, and the air was filled with the scent of dry earth.

It had been a long time since Song Changxu had seen such rural scenery. His family had become nouveau riche and moved to the city, and they rarely returned to the countryside.

He had been accepted into the history graduate program at A University and was looking forward to his future, but then he got into a car accident on his way to register and transmigrated into this book.

Song Changxu was a straight man and wouldn’t normally read this kind of novel. This book had been recommended to him by his cousin, who said it was fatefully connected to him and would be very useful for his future historical research.

Only after starting it did Song Changxu realize it was about a same-sex relationship. When he saw a character with the exact same name as his, his obsessive-compulsive tendencies kicked in, and he hastily skimmed through the entire book.

There was no one in the village at the moment. It was spring planting season, so everyone was in the fields, hoeing, sowing seeds, and carrying manure.

He returned to his room and immediately poured himself a cup of water. The water had a sweet taste that soothed his throat.

Now that I’ve transmigrated, there’s no way back for now. Song Changxu planned to first break off the engagement with Xu Zhizhou before considering anything else. His intuition told him that getting involved with the main characters of the original book would be very troublesome. Besides, he wasn’t gay; on the contrary, he was quite homophobic.

In the original book, they were a resentful couple. This time wouldn’t have a much better ending either. It was better for them to go their separate ways. Xu Zhizhou could walk his single-plank bridge, and he would walk his broad, open road.

We were only engaged yesterday, so it should be easy to call it off, right? Song Changxu thought.

Song Changxu’s face was the same as his modern one—a refined and handsome bearing, with bright eyes, well-defined brows, a high-bridged nose, and eyes as dark as lacquer.

Thinking of Xu Zhizhou’s personality gave Song Changxu a headache.

He really didn’t want to be annoyed to death. As Song Changxu thought about it, his temples began to throb. That person was greedy and vain; someone like him could never satisfy Xu Zhizhou’s appetite.

***

On the back mountain, the ge’ers had already started chopping firewood. Xu Zhizhou hadn’t run far. He found a large tree, sat down, and perfunctorily chopped a few pieces of wood with his axe, wielding it as if venting his anger.

“That Song Changxu is going to be the death of me, embarrassing me like that. In front of so many people, what’s wrong with chasing after me for a bit? I’m so good-looking, and so delicate and frail. It’s his good fortune to marry me, and he still won’t give me any face. I’m so angry!”

Xu Zhizhou’s eyes looked as if they were shooting fire. Who would be eager to marry him? If it weren’t for the fact that both families knew each other’s backgrounds, Xu Zhizhou would never marry this country bumpkin.

He had thrown tantrums and made scenes at home, but nothing worked to break the engagement. And now Song Changxu treated him like this today. Wasn’t he the one who came to propose?

“Could he be blind?” Xu Zhizhou wondered doubtfully.

After all, he was so beautiful. Even the young men in the village spoke to him in soft, gentle tones. Song Changxu must have studied until his brain turned stupid.

“So annoying.”

“Zhizhou…” Sun Ge’er’s voice called out.

Xu Zhizhou’s face immediately took on a dejected look. His skin was fair, seeming to glow in the sunlight. He had a slender waist and a small face of ethereal beauty.

He wasn’t lying when he said he was good-looking. A rich man’s son who passed through Qishan Village once saw him and wanted to take him as a concubine, but the Xu family refused.

Xu Zhizhou wanted to roll his eyes. A concubine? Who on earth would want to be a concubine? As if it’s some coveted position. His future husband had to be immensely talented, young and handsome, with a boundless future.

He wanted to enjoy wealth and glory, to have no worries about food or clothing, and to live a life of comfort.

Sun Ge’er came forward and said, “It’s alright, Zhizhou. Once you’re married, Song Changxu will come to know how wonderful you are.”

Xu Zhizhou lowered his head sadly, a beauty casting down his eyes. “He really didn’t come. Does he… not like me?”

Sun Ge’er sighed. “Song Changxu probably didn’t mean it. Those scholars have a lot of rules. Maybe they don’t interact with their fiancés before the wedding.”

Author’s Note:

Little Song: I can break off the engagement, right? Right? [Pitiful]

Little Xu: He’s blind. [Angry]