(A meek, dutiful maid vs. a dark, fiercely protective chief eunuch) The male lead is a true eunuch. A gentle, slow-burn story about everyday life.
Chun Tao was dealt a cruel hand. Disaster struck her hometown when she was just a little girl, and as she headed to Jiangnan to seek refuge with her aunt, her mother fell gravely ill and died.
To give her mother a proper burial, and simply to have enough to eat, Chun Tao sold herself to the Imperial Weaving Bureau and became a servant.
Every day, she woke up, swept floors, washed clothes, hauled water, and chopped firewood. Just as she thought this would be her life forever, the new chief eunuch, Li Xuanming, arrived to take up his post.
On his very first day, Chun Tao got into trouble right in front of him.
Chun Tao thought, So things really can get even worse.
To her surprise, Li Xuanming not only spared her trouble, but helped her out of a tight spot.
Determined to cling to this powerful patron, Chun Tao eagerly volunteered to serve him. Her goal was to have Li Xuanming take her as his “adopted daughter” and launch her on the road to a better life.
But how did serving him end up with her in his bed?
Li Xuanming was a eunuch, and women were as unattainable to him as the moon reflected in water or flowers in a mirror. He looked after Chun Tao only because she was pure-hearted and easy to make use of.
After all, all it took was a little favor from him for her to want to repay him with her life.
But as time went on, even he, a eunuch, began to think it would be nice to have a woman by his side who cared about whether he was warm or cold.
One day, when Chun Tao made yet another hopeful request, Li Xuanming smiled faintly and asked, “Since we’ve already shared a bed, how could I possibly be your godfather?”
