The Concubine Bride Was Kept in Secret by the Powerful Minister

I'm starting this one after finishing the one about Yuanyuan. Please, please give it a favorite, babies~

A story about a chess piece who becomes a wife: a marriage of convenience that turns into love, with a satisfying regret-and-redemption arc.

A sweet story in the same style as the one about Yuanyuan 💛

[Blurb]

Princess Minghua was ambushed on the way to her political marriage, and no trace of her body was ever found.

A village girl named Aqi, whose face closely resembled the princess's, was found in a shabby alley by the prime minister, Su Jin.

He promised her fine clothes and riches in exchange for taking the princess's place and marrying his enemy, the Second Prince.

After a month of intensive etiquette lessons, Aqi moved stiffly at every step and lay awake in fear every night, terrified that she would be exposed at the wedding and executed for deceiving the emperor.

But when the bridal veil was lifted on their wedding day, beneath the glowing red candles stood not the prince but the current regent, a refined and ascetic man who concealed a ruthless heart.

"The Second Prince has suddenly fallen gravely ill, so the marriage is canceled. His Majesty has issued a decree: from now on, I will be your husband."

*

Su Jin and the Second Prince were bitter enemies, locked in conflict for years.

The princess's death was an ideal opportunity for him to put his plan into action.

The village girl he deliberately chose looked exactly like the princess. With humble origins and no one to rely on, she was the perfect pawn.

He planned to marry her into his enemy's household, then kill her and frame the Second Prince, killing two birds with one stone and clearing away a political rival.

He had calculated every detail, yet fate still ruined his plans.

The Second Prince suddenly fell ill, and the imperial decree was changed at the last minute.

The expendable pawn he'd used in his schemes became his legal wife by a twist of fate.

*

When Su Jin first met Aqi, he despised her rustic vulgarity and ignorance of etiquette. He thought her manners crude and her presence unfit for polite society.

After they married, she kept making mistakes, driving him to distraction.

He hated her to the point of despair, but couldn't kill or scold her. All he could do was clean up her messes and shelter her from harm time and again.

He had only meant to maintain appearances and leave once he'd finished using her. But when the Second Prince recovered and returned, insisting on reclaiming this "princess,"

the usually cool, self-possessed prime minister, always in control of every situation, lost his composure for the first time.

He had schemed for half his life and plotted to control the world, yet he fell for the country girl he had looked down on most.

Both leads are virgins.

Blurb written July 16, 2026, and saved.

Theme: Family matters, state matters, and the affairs of the world: the most important task is ensuring the people live happy lives.