I Had a Baby Behind the Chief Minister's Back

- The neighboring novel, I Picked Up a Prince for a Husband, is now being serialized - [Beautiful merchant woman who has a child and leaves the father behind x Ruthless Grand Secretary with power over the realm] Original title: Had a Baby Without Telling the Grand Secretary After Ruan Longling was dumped by her childhood sweetheart, Liu Chengji, who had passed the palace exam and placed third, because of her merchant background... She finally understood: in this world, the only things you can rely on are money and your own flesh and blood. The Ruan family knows how to do business. With a fortune in hand, she has all the food and comforts she could want. All she wants is a child to inherit the family business. Once the idea of having a child without a father took hold, Ruan Longling set her sights on a refined young scholar. The scholar had a face like fine jade and a gentle, elegant bearing. From looks to temperament, he was exactly her type. With a father like him, the child was bound to be adorable and clever. Ruan Longling used every trick in the book to seduce the scholar into sleeping with her. They were inseparable, spending an exceptionally happy time together. The scholar had a better conscience than Liu Chengji. He took her fingertips and said tenderly that he would give her a proper place in his life. Ruan Longling slowly drew her fingertips from his palm and gently rested them on her belly, where a little life was stirring. In a casual tone, she said, "We were just a brief affair. If I'd known you were so serious, Linlang, I'd have gone after someone else." After a great deal of scheming, she finally convinced the scholar she was a fickle woman. Holding her belly, Ruan Longling smiled as she watched his carriage leave without looking back, feeling that at last she had gotten what she wanted. How could she have known they would meet again? The scholar had transformed into the mighty Grand Secretary! He stopped her beneath the red walls and green willows. Citing the testimony of everyone around them, he pointed toward the children playing in the distance and demanded in a voice full of authority, "Do you know what the law of the Qi Dynasty says should happen to someone who deceives a man into fathering a child?!" Ruan Longling went pale. Her legs trembled so badly she could hardly stand, but she still tried to defend herself in a weak voice. "H-How was I deceiving you? Back then... we were clearly... in love..." The man caught her as she sagged. He leaned close, his voice low and gentle, but leaving no room for argument. "Since we were in love..." "Then I should get half the child, right?" ??? So that's what you've been waiting for? Please read before starting: 1. The heroine begins as a merchant woman whose engagement is broken and ends as the Grand Secretary's wife. The leads are each other's only partners throughout, and the story has a happy ending. 2. The leads are not perfect people. They have serious flaws. As the blurb suggests, there are misunderstandings and twists, and they will separate. 3. I'm writing this for myself. I have fun writing it, so I hope you enjoy reading it. 4. The premise is also the dealbreaker. If you don't like it, don't read it. Please don't message me when you drop it. Please don't message me when you drop it. Please don't message me when you drop it. (This is a web novel, so don't take it too seriously. The characters' values are not the author's values. If you insult me, may your hair fall out.) (First draft of the blurb written on 2021/09/10, revised in early April 2022) Please add my neighboring novel, What Will You Use to Repay What You Owe Me?, to your reading list. [White-cut-black wolfish man pretending to be in love x beautiful, resilient woman like a little sun] Xie Zhaoheng is ambushed on his way back to the capital and rescued by a beautiful woman. But apart from her face, there's nothing to recommend about her. She's petty, devious, and steeped in the vulgar smell of money. Perhaps she realizes he's from a wealthy family, because she uses the debt he owes her for saving his life to force him, while he's unable to move, to marry her. "What's wrong with you marrying me? Every day you spend alive from now on, you owe to me!" Xie Zhaoheng is disgusted. Turning away, he thinks: "Vile and lowborn!" Once his injuries heal, Xie Zhaoheng turns to leave. The woman clutches the stack of banknotes he gave her. Eyes red, chin raised, she says, "Is this all your life is worth? You'll have to pay more!" Furious, Xie Zhaoheng leaves her ten times as much money. Later, Xie Zhaoheng can't forget her face, all smiles and scolding, so free-spirited and bold. The prince's manor is so cold and empty. Surely having a strange woman around to liven things up wouldn't hurt. But when he returns to the village to look for her, she's gone. There's a grave behind the house, and the grass has grown three feet tall. Xie Zhaoheng stands motionless before the grave for half a day. His expression shifts from shock to anger, then his face flushes red. His voice trembling with rage, he snaps, "She'd have been a nuisance even if she were alive. At least now I don't have to worry about her!" The lost legitimate daughter of the Xu family, the Grand Secretary's family, has been found. Grand Secretary Xu treasures her like a jewel and invites all the court officials to a reunion banquet. Seated behind a table, Xie Zhaoheng watches Miss Xu exchange flirtatious looks with the eldest son of the richest family in the realm. Word has it her husband just died and she's looking to marry again. He nearly grinds his back teeth to dust. In a secluded, deserted corner of the rear courtyard, someone covers Miss Xu's mouth and pins her against a hidden stretch of wall. She finds herself face-to-face with a cold, ruthless expression. Her unscrupulous ex-husband, the one who paid her to buy his freedom, flushes red and says, "...You infuriating debt-collector. I must have owed you in a past life!" Miss Xu: ???!! Please read before starting: 1. The title is abstract, but the story itself is serious. The leads are each other's only partners throughout, and the story has a happy ending. Expect plenty of melodrama. 2. The leads are not perfect people and have serious flaws. 3. The pacing swings repeatedly between slower than a snail and as fast as a roller coaster. 4. This probably isn't a pure wish-fulfillment story. That's all. (The original idea wasn't working, so I changed it. If you mind, feel free to remove it from your reading list. The blurb was revised on June 1, 2024, Valentine's Day; heavily revised on February 9, 2025; and revised again on April 10, 2025.) Theme: When Heaven closes one door, it opens another