A-Xue the Palace Maid’s Yoga Journey

“She was A Xue, a palace maid in the cold palace. By chance, she inherited the art of yoga and turned her life around. Not only did she escape servitude, she also became the empress's most trusted yoga instructor!”

Lin Wei, a modern yoga instructor, wakes up as the lowliest maid in the Imperial Wardrobe Bureau of the Qi Dynasty.

The original owner of her body was cast aside because of a back injury. In a leaky side hall, Lin Wei secretly unfurls her first yoga mat.

At first, it is only instinct: a way to ease her pain and stay alive.

But she unexpectedly cures the Laundry Bureau matron's old ailment, catches the attention of an out-of-favor consort, and even draws the notice of the rigid chief physician of the Imperial Medical Academy.

Later, yoga becomes the blade she uses to break through her predicament.

From accusations that “a palace maid must know her place” to charges that “a talented woman is meddling in state affairs,” attacks come from every direction.

Yet she bows respectfully before the emperor and presents him with a grander vision:

“Your Majesty, yoga can ease the strain on palace maids, strengthen the soldiers' bodies, and increase the textile workshops' tax revenue. This is no sorcery. It is a way to enrich the people and strengthen the nation.”

Now it is a thread hanging over everyone's head.

The empress dowager crushes her prayer beads in the Palace of Compassion and Tranquility. Powerful ministers join forces to submit death-defying remonstrances. A border dispatch “coincidentally” claims that yoga is disrupting the army.

Outside the palace gates, weavers from Jiangnan have traveled a thousand miles to kneel. Their palms are calloused from the looms, and their eyes shine with a light they have never known before:

“Your Majesty, please let Miss A Xue keep teaching us. We want to live with our backs straight.”

[A Note for Readers]

· This isn't a traditional sweet romance or palace-intrigue story. It's workplace savvy crushing the competition in the imperial harem.

· The heroine relies neither on seduction nor on a golden finger. She advances step by step through professional skill and political acumen.

· The cast is vivid, from palace maids struggling to survive to scheming ministers. Everyone has their own position and agenda.