The Little Palace Maid Who Served the Emperor

◢Coming soon: "My Lady and I Were Made for Each Other". Please add it to your reading list!

◢A remarkably unflappable palace maid x a heaven-blessed prince who talks himself into falling for her, then takes a spectacular fall|A sweet, devoted romance

The empress was selecting an initiation maid for Prince Qin. A Luo, a laundry maid, eagerly signed up for the generous monthly allowance of ten taels of silver.

Only after she was chosen did she learn that an initiation maid wasn't a maid who served snacks. She would rest during the day and report for duty at dusk.

Everyone came to congratulate her. Even the senior maid who usually couldn't stand her went out of her way to curry favor.

But A Luo really couldn't feel happy about it.

Prince Qin had a noble gaze and a handsome face, not to mention a fine physique. Every young lady in the capital dreamed of sharing a harmonious marriage and a lifetime together with him.

But palace servants whispered that, as the emperor's youngest and most favored son, Prince Qin had grown up spoiled and domineering. If anything displeased him, the person responsible would suffer.

An old nanny said Prince Qin was skilled in martial arts and would be hard to handle, so the maids would have to work extra hard.

A Luo's heart sank halfway to her feet.

Still, this was the consequence of her own choice, and she had no one else to blame. A Luo silently accepted her fate.

-

The first maid to spend the night with the prince didn't return until noon the next day. She was covered in bruises and collapsed straight into bed.

The second returned at daybreak, her face glowing and her spirits high. She couldn't praise Prince Qin enough.

The third came back that same evening, unable to hide her disappointment. She said it had all happened too fast, and there had been no fun in it at all.

After watching them day after day, A Luo was baffled. Were they really serving the same prince?

On the fourth day, it was her turn.

Parting the layers of curtains, Prince Qin leaned toward her.

She didn't dare look him in the eye. Lowering her head, she stammered, "Your Highness... are you hungry?"

To her surprise, Prince Qin was easy to get along with. That night, the two of them shared a delicious bowl of noodle soup.

Later, Prince Qin stopped sharing food with her. Instead, he would gaze at her tenderly and keep urging her, "A Luo, have you had enough to eat?"

A Luo, who had been taking her sisters' shifts for half a month straight: "N-no... not yet."

-

Prince Yan Zhou fell in love with a little laundry maid.

After half a year together, his heart and eyes were full of that sweet, bright young woman. He could only hope his mother would hurry up and send him to his fief, where no one would control him and the two of them could live like immortals together.

He thought she felt the same way.

Who could have known...

The emperor granted a general amnesty and allowed the palace servants to request permission to leave. She was the first to sign up.

He traveled a thousand miles to her hometown, only to find her sitting across from a scholar in a humble thatched cottage. The scholar earnestly asked for her hand, and she blushed and nodded.

Even worse, she had dared to use the silver and jewelry he had bestowed on her as her dowry!

Male lead's perspective: We've been in love for half a year, and our feelings are mutual.

Female lead's perspective: Work is exhausting. I want to retire.

◆ One-on-one romance, happy ending, both leads are sexually inexperienced, and the male lead is pure in body and heart.

◆ The heroine grows over time. She's unflappable, not stupid, and not a naive, sheltered girl. Her thinking is shaped in part by the limits of her era.

◆ The heroine will eventually have a name of her own! It isn't listed among the main characters because the plot requires it.

◆ This story is set in an alternate world, with plenty of original worldbuilding. In this story, the only duty of an initiation maid is to serve a prince and introduce him to sexual matters.

Blurb written on August 24, 2025

---Blurb for the upcoming *My Lady and I Were Made for Each Other*---

The niece of the Vice Minister of Revenue ran away from her marriage to the heir of Prince Ning and became a minor official in Wei County.

After half a year of diligently solving several murder cases, she was on the verge of a promotion. Who could have guessed a powerful noble from the capital would swoop in, take her position, and become her immediate superior?

Tao Nanjia: I'll put up with it.

*

Yin Zijing was difficult to please.

He brewed tea with morning dew, washed his hands in clear spring water, and changed his spotless clothes every two hours. He was even more pampered than the noble daughters of the capital.

While working out in the heat, Tao Nanjia patiently waited for her fussy superior to change. Suddenly, she thought of her unseen fiance.

The heir of Prince Ning was a heaven-blessed young master, yet he was supposedly filthy, crude, and slovenly. They said he bathed once every seven days and changed his clothes once every ten. He'd even rolled around in mud and walked through the busiest streets.

Tao Nanjia sighed. "How did I end up running into two people who are each the worst of their kind?"

*

Yin Zhan, courtesy name Zijing, was the pampered and privileged heir of Prince Ning. But after a young woman rejected his marriage proposal, he became the laughingstock of the entire city.

When he heard the news, he casually twirled the jade flute in his hand.

She didn't want to marry him? The Tao family girl was supposedly the very picture of propriety and learning. He had no interest in a wife that dull.

Later, he was ordered to investigate a case in Wei County, where he met a very interesting young female official. She was clearly displeased, yet still wore an expression of utmost respect.

Until one day, they had to climb down a well to solve a case.

The well was full of rotting mud and dead leaves, stinking and filthy.

While he wasn't looking, the young official kicked him. "Lord Yin has a reputation for looking after his subordinates. A time like this calls for you to lead by example."

Yin Zhan: Interesting.

*

Not long afterward, an imperial decree ordered the Yin and Tao families to choose a date for the wedding.

There was no way Tao Nanjia could escape the marriage now.

She accepted her fate and prepared to marry, only to hear that the heir of Prince Ning had defied the decree and loudly declared that he already had someone he loved. He cried, made a scene, threatened to hang himself, and went without food for three days until he was so thin he was barely recognizable. He was on the verge of dying.

It seemed someone was even less willing than she was to go through with this wedding.

On their wedding night, the crowd that had been teasing the newlyweds left the bridal chamber.

Tao Nanjia yanked off her veil.

Yin Zhan casually tossed the wedding scale onto the bed.

They spoke at the same time: "Come on, let's discuss... something."

Tao Nanjia: "Yin Zijing?"

Yin Zhan: "Tao Nanjia!"

Tao Nanjia: "You're filthy? You're crude?"

Yin Zhan: "...Heh. You don't exactly look like the proper and learned type either."

Tao Nanjia: "You liar!"

Yin Zhan: "Likewise."

That night, Tao Nanjia felt a hand touch her waist in her sleep.

Warm breath brushed her ear. "Since we're equally bad, that means we were made for each other. Why don't we make the best of it and live together?"

Theme: Learn to love yourself before loving someone else. Learning helps us grow.