This Houseboy Is Asking for a Beating

Lu Chang'an, an ordinary modern man, wakes from a nap to find himself a low-ranking servant sold into the Qin household.

Other servants keep their heads down, pour tea, and wait on their masters.

On his first day as a servant, Lu Chang'an asks the eldest young lady, “Room and board are fine, but does being buried alive with the dead count as a workplace injury?”

His words instantly make Qin Mingyue, the eldest young lady of the Qin household, turn cold with anger, and the whole household remembers this audacious new servant.

The Qin household is beset by troubles from within and without. Rivals are squeezing its businesses, elders of the clan are vying for power, and young masters from wealthy families are watching like hawks. Qin Mingyue had planned to teach this slick-tongued servant a quick lesson, but she never expected that beneath Lu Chang'an's seemingly frivolous manner, he could find the most outrageous way to solve every crisis.

Others compose poetry and trade verses; he makes things up on the spot and still dazzles the crowd.

Others fight over business; he sets up a little stall and fills the Qin household's coffers.

Others try to make a fool of him; he turns the tables and makes them the joke instead.

From lowly servant to someone the Qin household cannot do without;

From the eldest young lady's most despised man to the one she scolds and protects;

From a little courtyard in Jiangnan to a name known across the land.

Lu Chang'an has always thought of himself as low-key.

But everyone else thinks

This servant really is asking for a beating.