Hidden Steel in Disguise: The Heir’s Beloved Moon

The Substitute Bride: The Cold-Faced Prince Is Truly Smitten

Su Miaoqing transmigrated into the role of a substitute bride, married to a cold-faced prince who was paralyzed and violent. She was delighted. No wedding-night duties and no fighting for his favor meant she could focus on making money.

Three years of widowhood, five years to fortune. Life was good.

But she soon discovered that the prince wasn’t really paralyzed. He had been slowly poisoned, and the story behind her substitute marriage involved a forbidden romance between her stepsister and a hostage from an enemy kingdom. Worse still, the man seemed to lie flat, but was secretly investigating the poisoner. The culprit was none other than the current emperor.

Ji Changchuan had originally planned to use this woman as a cover. But then he watched her use modern business ideas to run the prince’s residence like clockwork and build a “beauty and intelligence alliance,” turning the circle of noblewomen into an intelligence network. Even more outrageous, she used his face as a brand and marketed the “paralyzed prince” as a skincare spokesperson, raking in a fortune.

Six months later, the first thing he said when he “stood” up was, “My consort’s business acumen has taught me a great deal.”

The two went from a marriage of convenience to partners in life and death, signing a bet: she would help him take revenge and seize power, and he would give her half the realm to do business. But when she actually helped him obtain the evidence, he publicly divorced her and locked her in a dungeon.

“Either become my chief intelligence officer, or prepare to really die.”

Deep in the dungeon was the intelligence headquarters of the Changfeng Pavilion. Only then did she discover that the man’s cruelest weapon wasn’t political intrigue. It was the way he used the most ruthless means to protect the people he cared about most.

When the realm offered as a bride price collides with the freedom she wants, and modern business ideas clash with ancient imperial power, who will win this game?

The substitute princess uses KPIs to evaluate the prince’s household, ROI to analyze the political landscape, and equity incentives to win people over. In the end, she gets the cold-faced prince to set aside his claim to the realm and become her “chief risk control officer.”