She's Just a Bedchamber Maid, General. Why Are You Kneeling to Her?

[Historical romance + maid-in-waiting rises to power + desperate pursuit to win her back + simmering tension + both virgins]

With nowhere else to turn, Shen Yuan was chosen by the old madam of the Marquis of Zhenbei’s household and sent to the borderlands to warm the bed of General Huo Zheng.

Red candles flickered, and the curtains hung low.

When she saw his blade-sharp, stern features, her legs went weak. It wasn’t love at first sight. She was terrified.

Huo Zheng’s voice was low and husky. “Come here.”

She didn’t dare disobey.

To him, she was nothing but a bedchamber maid to satisfy his needs, not even worth remembering by name.

Night after night, he took her to bed. The only tenderness he showed was a flat “Drink it” as he handed her an abortion-preventing potion.

Until one day, she became pregnant.

At last, Huo Zheng spared her a second glance, his voice almost gentle. “Return to the estate and rest. If you bear a son, I’ll grant you the status of a concubine.”

Shen Yuan lowered her eyes and obediently agreed.

But when Huo Zheng returned to the capital in triumph, all he found at home was a baby boy in swaddling clothes. The timid little maid, as skittish as a rabbit, had vanished without a trace.

He searched the entire city, finally finding her in a narrow alley in a bustling neighborhood.

She was wearing an apron and cutting vegetables, unaware of the army massed behind her.

Huo Zheng stood with one hand on his sword, his phoenix eyes as dark as a frozen pool. “You dared abandon your husband and child.”

The cleaver fell from Shen Yuan’s hand. Trembling, she said through tears, “General... I didn’t...”

“Too late.”

He strode toward her, pressing a long finger beneath her chin and forcing her to look up at him.

“When did I ever say you could decide for yourself what happens to one of my women?”

Everyone eventually knew that Huo Zheng, the ruthless, cold-faced General of Zhenbei, feared like the King of Hell, had fallen for none other than a bedchamber maid who had run away from him.