What Are Some Especially Sweet and Doting Romance Stories?

Completed, and sweet all the way through! Main story link:

Side story:

A Nong became pregnant in March of the year.

A Nong still remembered that night. Wei Yi had come home very late. Lately, for some reason, A Nong’s temper had been terrible. When Wei Yi hovered in front of her, she found him annoying; when he came home late, she was upset all over again.

A Nong sat in the courtyard for a long time without catching sight of him. When sleepiness crept over her, she went back inside, but she tossed and turned in bed, unable to sleep. Thinking that Wei Yi still hadn’t bothered to come home at this hour made her angry all over again, so she locked the bedroom door.

When Wei Yi got back to the residence, a whole day of official business had left him exhausted in body and mind. All he wanted was to go to bed early with warm fragrance and soft jade in his arms.

He never expected that the little wife he had been longing for would lock him out.

Sitting on the bed, A Nong could already see the shadow outside the door, a figure she knew well. She watched him stand there for a long time, as if hesitating over whether to knock. A Nong thought Wei Yi would ask her to open the door and let him in, but to her surprise, he actually turned and left.

A Nong panicked and hurried to open the door. Hearing the latch, Wei Yi came back.

“So you still know how to come home?”

Wei Yi heard the soft, sweet voice of his little girl, carrying a bit of a sulk, and her face wore an angry expression too.

“There was a bit more business today. Did I make A Nong wait too long?”

Wei Yi wore a smile and a thoroughly unserious look. In front of other people and in front of A Nong, he really was two completely different men.

“Where were you planning to spend the night just now? Don’t tell me you’ve been keeping two concubines in the back courtyard behind my back?”

A Nong dodged the hand Wei Yi reached out to hold her, tossed aside the outer robe draped over her shoulders, and was about to head to the bed when she accidentally tripped on a stool and banged her knee.

Wei Yi hurried to steady her, carried her to the bed, and gently rubbed her knee through the thin fabric with his large hand.

“One delicate A Nong like this is enough. If a few more women as delicate as A Nong came along, your husband really couldn’t take it.”

Wei Yi was just about to press closer when A Nong pushed him away, her voice full of reproach: “Go change your clothes.”

Wei Yi didn’t force it. He got up good-naturedly, then, while A Nong wasn’t paying attention, pecked her with a kiss.

He had wanted to see his little wife’s face turn shy. Instead, she froze for a second, her expression changed at once, and she let out a dry “ugh” of a retch.

This time it was Wei Yi whose expression changed. His face darkened, and he stared at A Nong in disbelief. “What, does your husband disgust A Nong that much?”

A Nong hurriedly shook her head. This time she was the one in the wrong. She went to comfort Wei Yi, but she hadn’t expected another wave of nausea.

Only then did Wei Yi notice something was off with A Nong. He sent for a doctor that very night. With all the commotion in the courtyard, even the duke and duchess came over. The doctor examined her and found that A Nong was pregnant.

A Nong was going to be a mother. By the next day the news had spread to everyone. Even the emperor’s dragon countenance was greatly pleased, and he sent many precious tonics to the Duke of Zhenguo’s residence.

Wei Yi’s duties grew lighter too. Every day he came home early and followed A Nong around like her shadow, afraid she might bump or knock into something.

Looking at A Nong’s flat belly, Wei Yi couldn’t help reaching out to touch it. He still found it a little unbelievable that there was a tiny new life in there, carrying his blood.

He glanced up at the sleeping A Nong. Who knew what sweet dream the little girl was having? She was smiling even in her sleep, showing a shallow dimple on one side and two puffy cheeks of baby fat.

“Our A Nong is still a little girl ah, how did she become a mother?” Though Wei Yi said this, in his heart he was truly looking forward to the arrival of the baby in A Nong’s belly. Before falling asleep, he always let his thoughts run wild, wondering whether the baby was a boy or a girl, and if it was a girl, whether she would be as sweetly silly and adorable as A Nong had been as a child.

A Nong’s belly grew more obvious day by day. Her old clothes no longer fit, so she had several new outfits made. Wei Yi had raised A Nong to be so delicate that she was a prim little madam who couldn’t even put on her own clothes. In ordinary households, the wife helped the husband change, but with A Nong, it was the other way around.

Pregnancy made A Nong ill-tempered, but Wei Yi’s temper only got better and better. Not only did he never provoke A Nong in ordinary times, but even when A Nong mumbled at night that she wanted water chestnut cakes from the north side of the city, he would go out right away and buy them for her.

But the peaceful life didn’t last long in the end. The third prince colluded with a foreign state in a bid to steal the throne, and the emperor was so enraged he fell ill and took to his bed. Although Crown Prince Shen Jing attended court and handled affairs in his place, the hearts of the court were all wavering.

The foreign state was preparing to invade the northern border, yet among all the hundred officials of the court, not one dared step forward and petition for the command to lead troops against the enemy.

Young as Shen Jing was, he very nearly fainted from rage right there in court.

At this moment of crisis, only the Duke of Zhenguo and his son stepped forward, volunteering to lead the troops on campaign.

“The Duke of Zhenguo’s house has been loyal and righteous for generations. I thank you here. And all you civil and military officials present should take a good look. You submit plenty of memorials impeaching other people on ordinary days, so how is it that the moment it counts, every one of you turns into a tortoise pulling in its head?” Shen Jing flung his sleeve and left court in a temper, calling Wei Yi away with him as he went.

The crown prince didn’t really want Wei Yi to go. This war would be dangerous, and if he couldn’t come back safely…

“Wei Yi, why don’t you think it over again… There are so many military officers at court. It’s not as if we keep them for nothing.”

Wei Yi shook his head, put his hands behind his back, and let his gaze drift over the palace walls in the distance. “Your subject’s mind is made up… Shen Jing, take good care of A Nong for me.”

When the duke and his son got home, the first thing that met them was the duchess’s scolding, pouring down over their heads.

“Wei Ling! If your old bones don’t care to live, why drag our son along? Our daughter-in-law has only just gotten pregnant… If, if something were to happen…” However tough the duchess usually was, at this point she couldn’t help choking up.

“Who in the world doesn’t know the Duke of Zhenguo’s house has been loyal and righteous for generations? What do all those people at court eat their rice for?”

Wei Yi stood obediently to one side listening to his mother go on, a hundred feelings mixing in his heart. Only after his father had calmed his mother did he hurry back to his courtyard.

Just as he had expected, A Nong was sitting under the tree in the courtyard waiting for him. The little girl had her chin propped in her hand, misery written all over her face. When she saw him come back, she forced out a smile to greet him.

“You’re back? When are you leaving?”

“Your husband only just got back, and you’re already thinking about your husband leaving?” Wei Yi chided, tapping the little girl’s forehead.

“You know that’s not what I meant.” A Nong led Wei Yi behind the screen, undid his buttons for him, and took off his court robes. Then she picked out a blue-green everyday robe for him and wanted to dress him in it, only to find she had no idea where to start.

Wei Yi took the robe and put it on himself.

“We set out tomorrow afternoon.” Looking at A Nong, Wei Yi suddenly couldn’t set his mind at ease. Under his care, she had become even more delicate than before she married. She couldn’t even figure out her own clothes. If one day he weren’t by her side and she met difficulties and grievances, what would his A Nong do?

“A Nong…” Wei Yi raised his hand to brush aside the loose hair on her forehead and lowered his head to meet her eyes.

Wei Yi held A Nong tightly, unwilling to let go. “A Nong, will you blame me?”

“No.” A Nong shook her head.

The house of the Duke of Zhenguo had produced famous generals and military merit for generations. A Nong had known it since she was little. Just as Wei Yi had once told her, her Wei Yi was always someone who would become a hero.

A Nong was like the other daughters of official families in the capital, and yet not the same. Since childhood, A Nong had listened to her father hold forth on the great affairs of the nation. A Nong had seen the joy on her emperor uncle’s face when news of a great victory arrived from the front. A Nong had even once dreamed of becoming a valiant female general. But A Nong couldn’t, and A Nong couldn’t stop Wei Yi from becoming that kind of hero either.

Once Wei Yi left for the frontier, he was gone for more than half a year. A Nong still remembered that when he left, the peach blossoms beyond the wall were in full bloom. In the blink of an eye, the courtyard was covered in a layer of heavy snow, and a few branches of blazing red plum blossoms bloomed in the corner of the wall and before the window.

Holding up her belly, A Nong watched the servants coming and going in and out of the house, every one of them beaming. Seeing that red lanterns had already been hung in the rooms, A Nong couldn’t help sighing. The end of the year was almost here, yet there was still no news at all from Wei Yi. He hadn’t even thought to send back a single letter.

A Nong sat on the couch and stroked the child in her belly. The imperial physician had told her it was a boy. No wonder he kicked up such a fuss in her belly, tormenting her so she often couldn’t sleep at night.

A Nong thought of Wei Yi again. Wei Yi always used to lie against A Nong’s belly calling the baby “little A Nong” this and “little A Nong” that. A Nong thought Wei Yi must want a daughter. She didn’t know whether he would be disappointed to hear this news.

A page boy came running over in a hurry and handed her a letter, his smile practically stretching up to the sky. He said to A Nong, “Madam, this was sent over from the palace. It’s a letter home from the young lord!” A Nong took the letter. Seeing the familiar handwriting on the envelope, her heart started pounding.

A Nong stroked the four strong, vigorous characters, “For My Wife’s Eyes Only,” and it was a good while before she came to her senses and opened the envelope.

“My dearest love, may these words be as though we meet face to face. Since we parted, your husband has not seen A Nong for over a month. Is A Nong well?

“A day apart is like three autumns. Apart for over a month, your husband is truly wretched and pitiable.

“A Nong, do not blame your husband for not writing to you. It is only that matters here were urgent, and your husband could not split himself in two.

“After your husband left, I am sure A Nong took on the running of the household. Though A Nong was spoiled when she was little, she knows what matters most. A Nong must not wear herself out. Take care of yourself, and take care of the child in your womb.

“I do not know whether Mother is well. Father and Mother are devoted to each other, so Mother must be worrying and pining every day. I have not fulfilled the duty of a filial son, and that is my unfilial failing. I hope A Nong will apologize to Mother on my behalf.

“… Your husband promises he will surely come back safe.

“Once again it is the end of one year and the beginning of the new. Your husband wishes A Nong a life of a hundred years, and peace and safety year after year.

“The brush and ink run out at last, but my love goes on and on.”

A Nong broke into a grin. She was smiling, but the glistening tears at the corners of her eyes slid down her cheeks and fell onto the xuan paper, blurring the name she longed for day and night.

Only a few days after the New Year, news arrived of a great victory. The enemy had retreated and raised white flags of surrender, and Wei Yi had captured the traitor and was returning in triumph.

By the look of A Nong’s belly, she would give birth any day now. The duchess was extremely nervous. She had brought in a midwife to stay at the residence well ahead of time, afraid of any mishap.

Maybe it was because she was so happy to hear that Wei Yi was coming back that it suddenly stirred the baby.

All A Nong felt was pain and weakness. Her ears were full of noisy shouting, and the mist in her eyes kept her from seeing clearly. In her haze, she seemed to see the scene from when Wei Yi, in his teens, returned victorious from his first battle: the young general clad in armor astride a tall horse, full of high spirits, so that the girls watching from the roadside couldn’t help secretly giving him their hearts.

The teenage A Nong hadn’t understood what affection was or what love was. But as for Wei Yi, she only wanted to hide him away, to bind his name to hers forever, so that no one in the world would dare covet him or dare take him away.

“A Nong.”

“I’m back.”

A Nong gave birth to a boy whose brows and eyes looked very much like Wei Yi’s. The duchess doted on him terribly, and the duke went to the palace that very night to ask the emperor to bestow a name.

The child was given the name Yan, taken from “bearing the splendor of fine jade.”

Translator’s note: Yan (yan3) means a fine jade, and the line comes from a classical poem praising its beauty.

The whole household loved this little young master, and A Nong was delighted too. She looked at the fair, tender baby in his swaddling clothes, then glanced at Wei Yi sitting off to one side by himself. Father and son really did look alike. She wondered whether Wei Yi had been this adorable when he was little.

Of course, Wei Yi didn’t know what A Nong was thinking. Of everyone in the household, the one who felt worst was probably him. When A Nong gave birth, she had walked once through the gate of life and death, scaring him so badly his heart hung in his throat. Now that the child was born, he had meant to have some proper tender time with the little wife he hadn’t seen for months, but this little person was always squeezed in between them.

Wei Yi finally understood why A Nong had found him so annoying when they were little. Looking now at this son who seemed carved from the same mold as him, he found him very annoying too.

“A Yan, A Yan.” Watching A Nong tease the baby in the cradle with a cloth tiger, Wei Yi couldn’t get over it however he thought about it. Sulking, he got up and left.

A Nong had noticed Wei Yi acting strangely these past two days. He was in low spirits, went to bed early at night, and lay on his side alone, his back to her.

A Nong, for once in a rare good mood, finally snuggled up to comfort him. She wrapped her slender arms around Wei Yi’s lean waist and acted cute by his ear to coax him.

“Wei Yi, are you even eating your own son’s vinegar?”

Translator’s note: “Eating vinegar” means being jealous.

Wei Yi made no sound and kept ignoring her, but his breathing was ragged, and A Nong could already guess he had heard every word.

“Wei Yi, you petty little ghost.” Wei Yi was just about to turn over and argue with A Nong about exactly where he was petty when he felt A Nong hug his waist even tighter. The little girl brought her head close to his neck, her warm breath carrying a lovely floral scent, and Wei Yi heard her say, “Wei Yi, I love you.”

“The person A Nong likes most most most is only Wei Yi.”

That year on Qixi, Wei Yi dragged A Nong out to stroll the night market. Wei Yi was dressed all in white, and A Nong wore a blue-and-pink ruqun, her hair done in a maiden’s style. Walking down the street, nobody could have told they were a married couple who were already parents.

“Wei Yi, look, there’s a wishing tree over there.” Wei Yi looked where the little girl was pointing. It was a thick old tree by the lake, its branches hung full of red cords, and under it an old man was handing out red cords to passersby.

When he turned his head, the little girl had already run down off the bridge.

“Miss, buy a red cord. Hang it on this tree of the Old Man Under the Moon, and once he knows your heart, he’ll grant you a husband just as you wish.”

“No thanks, I already have someone I love.” Still, A Nong bought two red cords and hung a small tag on each. One said “Xiao Yunlian,” and the other said “Wei Yi.” The little girl tied the two cords together in a dead knot and stood on tiptoe to hang them on the tree.

Translator’s note: Xiao Yunlian is A Nong’s formal name; A Nong is her pet name. The Old Man Under the Moon (Yuelao) is the god of matchmaking who ties destined lovers together with red cords.

“Then this old man wishes you and your beloved will become husband and wife at last, with a hundred years of harmony.”

A Nong looked at the white-clad figure on the bridge. The Qixi night sky seemed to be deliberately making way for the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl to meet. The moon hid behind the clouds, and the long river of stars covered the night sky.

Translator’s note: Qixi, the seventh night of the seventh lunar month, is when the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl, two lovers separated by the Milky Way, get to meet once a year.

“The one I love is named Wei Yi.”

He was that clean, bright youth in his prime, so full of high spirits. He was that heroic general who held his blade crosswise on his reined-in horse and swept all before him. The youth and the general had only one name: Wei Yi.

From somewhere, fireworks went up, lighting the whole night sky red and shining on Wei Yi as well.

In A Nong’s eyes, he shone and sparkled in the crowded throng, more brilliant than any star in the night sky.