I Work Like a Mule at Court, Also Known as: Dating Is No Substitute for Getting Promoted
While others rise step by step after entering court, Baili Jin's career is more like “working a day job at court”: endless work, lousy pay, and a boss who makes life miserable.
Her classmate and fellow soldier, Zhang Su, is the ultimate workaholic of the Great Zhou dynasty.
His way of showing concern: “You can't clock out until the case is solved.”
His way of flirting: “If you die, I'll collect your body.”
Her business partner, Shen Gui, is a seasoned, dangerously beautiful madman who can never get reimbursed for his expenses.
His idea of teamwork: “You dig the hole for me, and I'll fill it in for you.”
His way of pursuing her: “Either be with me, or die together.”
Baili Jin's daily routine: by day, she plays a criminal-investigation consultant in a court-intrigue drama; by night, she's a master at keeping the peace in a romance. Her salary is empty promises, and her performance reviews mean taking the blame for others.
Until she discovers that her father's wrongful conviction, her colleagues' dark pasts, and her boss's secret performance targets...
All point to a bloody mystery from fifteen years ago, one capable of bringing down the dynasty.
Now this worker, who only wants to clock out on time, has to consider a serious question: should she keep her head down and stay alive, or just... tear down this wretched old workplace?
[Reading Guide] A slow burn, with the mystery peeled away layer by layer like an onion. Chapters 1–47 lay the groundwork; clues start coming together from Chapter 48, and the Yuguan Mountain arc, the novel's climax, begins in Chapter 70.
Shangguan Ling: I'm just here for team building, how come I almost lost my life? Zhang Su's love meant that I had foreseen all the risks, so I decided not to start. Shen Gui's love meant screwing up the risks, and I would go to hell with her.