The Great Ming's Embroidered Uniform Guard: I, a Banner Officer

Nineteen-year-old Ye Qingyu is a junior officer in the Embroidered Uniform Guard. He seems laid-back and easygoing, but in truth he is sly, cunning, and deeply calculating, well versed in how to play the pig to eat the tiger. On his first day in officialdom, he offends Lu Zhiyuan, a director in the Ministry of Revenue, and faces hired assassins and official harassment. But with his sharp wits, he turns the tables at every step and keeps his enemies firmly in his grasp.

He keeps to a small courtyard, steadily building up his strength alongside his loyal brothers, while navigating the infighting of the Ming bureaucracy. He crosses paths with the cold-faced female constable Liu Qingyuan, gets unexpectedly caught up in a censor’s matchmaking blunder, and comes face-to-face with vengeful servants at his door and power struggles at court.

He never plays by the usual rules, using every advantage to break through obstacles and moving forward one steady step at a time. He never goes looking for trouble, but he never fears it either. From an obscure junior officer in the Embroidered Uniform Guard, he goes on to face-slap the powerful and unravel conspiracies. In the treacherous world of Ming officialdom, he rises against all odds to the very top, ultimately becoming a powerful and feared official of the Embroidered Uniform Guard!