I Unexpectedly Conceived the Powerful Minister's Child

This isn't very well written, so don't read it.

[Slow-witted, fiercely studious official's daughter x harsh on the outside, gentle on the inside powerful minister]

The Jiang family has no sons, only one daughter.

Jiang Ying loves studying from childhood. At seventeen, she resolves to work harder than anyone, determined to become the most celebrated female scholar in the capital and bring honor to the Jiang family.

Then, one day, after attending a palace banquet, she accidentally ends up in bed with someone. She even forgets what he looks like. Not long after returning home, she discovers she is pregnant.

Pregnancy is hard, and she has too much coursework. She plans to secretly get rid of the baby, but the next day the child's father comes to ask for her hand. The two marry as a matter of course.

She hears that the man is Lord He, the powerful minister who has made a name for himself at court and enjoys the emperor's favor. She can't believe she slept with someone so important.

That night, Jiang Ying rubs her belly and realizes her mind is full of music, chess, calligraphy, and painting. She has no idea how to raise a child.

*

On the first day after getting married, He Chongjin has just purged the rebels from the court. He is powerful and decisive, and no one can match his cunning or methods. He is a thorn in the side of every rebel.

The one thing he never expected was to be drugged and sleep with the Jiang family's legitimate daughter. The news spreads through the capital like wildfire. He thinks he should take full responsibility for her, as is only proper, so he sends someone to the Jiang family to propose.

Good news: She's pregnant. He'll be a father in a few months.

Bad news: He doesn't know how to raise a child.

One day, Jiang Ying suddenly comes in and tentatively asks him, “Husband, how about we get rid of the baby?”

He Chongjin: “...?”

Jiang Ying: “If you can't bear to, then after the baby's born, we can send it to a country estate to be raised. It might suffer a little, but as the saying goes, those who endure the greatest hardships become the greatest people.”

He Chongjin: “Why not raise the child ourselves?”

Jiang Ying: “If we have it and keep it in the residence, it'll cling to me. The child is a small matter. My studies are more important.”

He Chongjin: “...There's no need to go that far. Once the baby is born, I'll make time to care for it myself.”

A few months later, the whole capital hears that Lord He carries his baby everywhere. Officials and commoners say it's undignified for a grown man to hold a child all day, and that he must be afraid of his wife.

Later, He Chongjin looks at his lovely wife in his arms and gently asks, “Yingying, the child has grown so much and still clings to you all day. When should we send him to the country estate?”

Reader's guide:

1. The first half is a slow-burn romance set in the Great Sheng dynasty, focused on everyday life. The second half has more plot and focuses on family bonds, with a child.

[Playful, rebellious princess x outwardly obedient but inwardly sinister prince consort | Marriage before love | Twelve-year age gap | Rekindled romance]

Princess Yuanjia should have been a treasured golden branch, blessed with every advantage.

But when she was young, her father disappeared, and her mother remarried the new emperor. Yuanjia grew more and more unruly and rebellious until she was confined to her chambers and forbidden to leave.

As an adult, she spends her days drinking and carousing in extravagant luxury, becoming the most disgraceful princess in the eyes of the world.

On the day the chancellor's daughter is married, Princess Yuanjia barges in uninvited.

Before everyone's eyes, the drunken girl leans against her palanquin and points at the handsome man in wedding robes, as beautiful as carved jade. “I have come to steal the groom. I hope the Lord of Fengrao City will deign to become my prince consort.”

The story of Princess Yuanjia stealing another woman's groom spreads through the capital. Under pressure, the Lord of Fengrao City becomes Yuanjia's live-in prince consort and a man at her beck and call. His luck couldn't be worse.

In the princess's residence, on their wedding night, a man and a woman sit side by side in a tense atmosphere.

“Your Highness went to such lengths to make me yours. What do you want from me?”

“From today on, your name is Song Linsheng, and your courtesy name is Stand-In. You must learn to imitate him in every word and deed and make me happy.”

*

Song Linsheng is, on the surface, the most gifted young general in the Yuan dynasty. In truth, he is the leader of the former dynasty's rebel army, the greatest traitor of all.

Day and night, he dreams of destroying the Yuan dynasty and laying its cities to waste, unleashing a storm of bloodshed.

But just after returning to the capital, the new emperor orders him to look after the incorrigible Yuanjia.

At first, they are completely at odds. But one day, the little princess throws herself into his arms, tears streaming down her face. “From now on, I'll think of you as my father.”

His heart is shaken.

After that, the hands meant for killing are forced to lead her through the night when she gets lost, comb her soft hair, and repair the rabbit lantern her father left behind... right up until the day he is executed for treason.

He sees Yuanjia crying and furious, saying she will find someone to replace him and hate that person forever.

Five years after faking his death, Song Linsheng removes his mask and becomes the Lord of Fengrao City. He becomes his own stand-in, her prince consort.

*

Song Linsheng knows he is a rebel from the former dynasty, while Yuanjia is a princess of the ruling dynasty. They are destined to be enemies to the death.

Yet after returning home, he catches a glimpse of the princess asleep.

The young man's cool expression gradually softens. Almost without thinking, he adjusts his wife's awkward sleeping position and tucks her in.

The gesture feels like a return to five years ago.

He thinks he must be going mad.

Reader's guide:

1. The stand-in and the original are the same person. The heroine has another reason for stealing the groom.

2. They secretly loved each other in both directions five years ago. Five years later, they rekindle their romance.

3. Five years ago, the heroine was ten and the hero was twenty-two, a twelve-year age gap.

Theme: Love *************** power