[Dream of the Red Chamber fanfiction + transmigrate into a book and survive + household intrigue and management + clear-eyed heroine]
After transmigrating into the lowest-ranking maid in the Rongguo Mansion’s sewing room, liable to be sold off at any moment, Shen Hengwu’s first thought upon waking is how to survive in the Jia family, a once-great house on the verge of collapse.
Born into a lowly servant’s status, she has no miraculous cheat to turn the world upside down. All she can do is pass off her modern knowledge of Chinese medicine and medicinal cuisine, along with her talent for color coordination, as skills learned in the countryside. She keeps a low profile to stay alive amid the power struggles between the mistresses, including Madam Wang and Concubine Zhao.
With an elegant embroidered screen, she earns a place in the Grand View Garden. With a bowl of nourishing medicinal cuisine, she wins Grandmother Jia’s favor. From Chunxing, a maid who can be beaten and bullied at will, to a shop owner who has won back her freedom, she advances one careful step at a time, saving money and winning people over, determined to escape this man-eating cage.
As the Four Great Families collapse like towering mansions, their once lofty members sink into ruin. The little maid they once looked down on now stands beside a cold-faced military hero and nouveau riche, at the pinnacle of the new dynasty’s splendor.
How will a little maid escape the deadly trap that even the most powerful family cannot survive, and forge a brilliant road to success all by herself?
