We Agreed It Was a Fake Marriage, but the Powerful Minister Took It Seriously

A-Wan of the Meng family was born into a wealthy household in Lin'an, but fate dealt her one hardship after another. After her parents died young, she had no choice but to travel north and live with her maternal relatives, where she became engaged to her cousin, Ji Yue, at the elders’ insistence. Little did she know that Ji Yue had already taken a lover outside the family, and the affair ended in the tragic deaths of both mother and child. Reborn, she was determined to sever this ill-fated bond, but her aunt turned around and tried to marry her off to a local thug. Just as she was at her wits’ end, Ji Zhouyang, the powerful chief minister who held sway over the court, came to ask for her hand. Everyone in the imperial capital knew him as a man of cold heart and colder temperament. Years ago, a maid had tried to climb into his favor, only to be cast out of his household the next day, never to be heard from again. Seated in the main hall, he regarded her with a distant expression. “It’s only a marriage of convenience. Once the storm has passed, I’ll set you free.” She gripped her sleeves and considered it again and again, but in the end, she accepted the bargain. Before the wedding candles had burned out, however, he had already trapped her in his arms. In a panic, she pressed against his chest. “We agreed this was only a marriage of convenience...” He chuckled softly, his breath brushing her ear. “I’ve changed my mind. Is that not allowed?”