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[No-nonsense tech genius heroine × Sickly, scheming, emotionally repressed hero]
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Su Wu once thought she would spend her entire life in the palace kitchens.
When she was fourteen, her entire sect was condemned after one of its mechanical puppets went out of control.
Her legs were broken, and she was thrown into the Crown Prince's kitchens to tend the fire.
She made herself a pair of wooden legs from firewood and clung to life by the stove.
Four years later, a blaze reached the kitchen door, forcing Su Wu to fight for her life.
At last, Cao Sui remembered that his residence was hiding a mechanical genius.
He decided to grant her a favor: help her uncover the truth about what happened all those years ago.
The price was simple: she would work for him.
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One day, Su Wu received a lavish gift from Cao Sui.
Blackwood bones, gilded decorations, and supposedly the finest mechanical legs in the capital, made by its best craftsman.
Su Wu took one look. An amateur was still an amateur.
She sent them back untouched, along with a note:
Next time you want to give me something, just give me the wood.
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From the hero's perspective:
Cao Sui thinks he's the most capable man in the world. He makes Su Wu swear eternal loyalty to him, and she becomes utterly devoted.
He keeps up his aloof act while shamelessly flirting and showing off, loves her to pieces, but still refuses to confess.
He thinks Su Wu has chosen him for life, only to turn around and discover someone else has stolen her away!
Fine, the man covets her mechanical skills, but what does he think he's doing confessing before Cao Sui can?
It's come to this. There's no point saying more. The emotionally repressed Crown Prince officially begins his long road to winning her back.
But when Cao Sui thinks Su Wu is in love with him, this is what it actually looks like...
Su Wu: Busy solving cases and building her career, she glances at Cao Sui while yawning.
Cao Sui: Ah! She must like me! (Absolutely certain!)
Cao Sui: No, I have to play it cool. I can't make myself seem too easy to win over...
He strides past her with an icy air, then turns around and sees...
Cao Sui: Huh? Where did Su Wu go?
Cao Sui: Hey, hey, hey! I like you! Look at me!
Reader's note:
1. Two relationships, each monogamous in its own stage. A slow-burn HE.
2. Everyone is faithful except the old emperor.
3. The mechanical arts are fictional.
Also titled The Crow Carries a Sprig
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Theme: As long as you keep living, there's hope.
