[Drought and escape | Maid climbs the ranks | Mystical dew | Face-slapping | Save up and get rich | Clear-eyed heroine | Pure wish-fulfillment]
A severe drought ravages the north. Eight-year-old Lin Wanhe signs away her life in tears to save a beloved relative stricken with plague, selling herself to the Pei household in Suzhou for ten taels of silver!
The marquis's residence is governed by strict rules. A new maid who makes even the smallest mistake in the rear courtyard will have her skin torn by a wicked old matron's cane and be sent to the laundry yard for hard labor, doomed to die in the depths of the mansion!
The moment she climbs into the carriage, a Herbal Cabinet of Consciousness awakens in Wanhe's mind. Every day, its white jade mortar produces five drops of Herbal Dew!
Taken internally, the dew can revive someone from convulsions and restore their strength. Applied externally, it reduces swelling, disperses bruises, and fades lash marks!
Her roommate Qiu Ju gets jealous and plots against her. Matron Ge raises her cane? Wanhe secretly drinks the dew, stands motionless under the scorching sun, and turns the tables, making the wicked reap what they sow!
While others are still fighting over a single white-flour bun, Wanhe is already using the herbal dew to befriend the embroiderer Mo Yun and the cook Yingtao, learn to read and keep accounts, and make a stunning impression in the branch-house examination!
The mistress is frail? The legitimate daughter has an emergency? A drop of dew slips into the medicine, and silver rewards flow into her storage space!
Before they part, her parents promise through their tears: once they settle down, they will hang a little wooden gourd carving outside their door!
See how a lowly scullery maid rises step by step in the man-eating marquis's residence with just five drops of divine dew, earns back her freedom, and goes looking for the door with a wooden gourd hanging from it!
