My Workaholic Empress

A palace maid who’s obsessed with promotions and raises meets an emperor who just wants to lie flat and retire early. Her KPI is to manage the imperial harem; his little dream is to marry her and then coast to victory together.

Fan Kefan, the daughter of a low-ranking official, is forced into the palace after her family falls on hard times. Other people fight in the palace for the emperor’s favor; she does it for her KPI. She treats the palace as a “secure job,” dreaming of working her way up to become the chief female official before retiring in peace. Breaking records for organizing the storeroom? Reciting palace rules by heart? Streamlining procurement? All basic stuff, no big deal!

Yang Jingheng, the ill-fated emperor who ascended the throne as a boy, has been pushed to excel his whole life. He’s outstanding in both civil and military affairs, but deep down he’s a seasoned slacker who just wants to “take it easy.” That is, until one night, while sneaking off for a break, he comes across Fan Kefan reciting the Palace Efficiency Handbook under the moonlight. Her grand theories on “how to reduce palace expenses” leave him utterly dumbfounded.

And so begins a most unusual palace life:

She introduces the “5S management system,” while he turns the imperial study into his cozy hideaway;

She implements “performance reviews,” while he just wants to give her a whole string of A+ ratings;

She’s focused on her career, while he’s secretly hoping to make her one of “his people,” so he’ll have someone to help with the memorials.

As Fan Kefan uses her formidable skills to work her way up from a lowly palace maid to a position at the emperor’s side, she finally realizes that her boss, who never wants to work, has been looking at her in a rather peculiar way.

When faced with open and covert attacks from the court and the harem, he fiercely takes her side: “My empress has rendered great service to the realm. How dare you presume to criticize her?”

And when he overcomes all opposition and presents her with the Empress’s Seal, all Fan Kefan can think about is...