Chunxiao, an overworked office worker, wakes up as the personal maid of Sheng Mingwei, the eldest legitimate daughter of the richest family in Cangzhou.
All she has to do is serve tea and water and praise her mistress's beauty, and she gets a monthly allowance of one tael of silver, her own room, and meals from the private kitchen. She can even follow her young heiress around to pick out rouge and powder, buy silks and brocades, watch plays, go boating, and stroll through gardens... It's a far more comfortable life than the grind she was living before she worked herself to death.
Chunxiao secretly vows: She has to hold on to this job!
The new guards at the Sheng residence are all impressively well-built, too. They practice shirtless in the outer courtyard every day, making for a particularly pleasing sight.
Especially the one surnamed Liang.
Broad shoulders, a narrow waist, and bulging pecs: he's practically a living bodhisattva.
Never one to pass up a chance to feast her eyes, Chunxiao goes for a stroll around the outer courtyard with her maid friends every day. One day, she accidentally discovers this man's true identity: the man surnamed Liang is an undercover agent at the Sheng residence, searching for evidence of bribery.
What? He wants to destroy her job?
No way!
Indignant, Chunxiao strides forward and grabs his arm, but the gleaming saber at his waist makes her heart tremble three times over.
Thinking quickly, she smiles and asks, "Captain Liang, how did you get so fit?"
Liang Shen lowers his eyes and pries the hand that's pinching his arm away. His voice is low and cold. "Miss Chunxiao, please show some restraint..."
*
Liang Shen comes from a military family. He's the youngest centurion in the Tiger Cavalry Battalion, and his superior trusts him enough to send him undercover at the Sheng residence to search for evidence.
The Sheng residence is extravagantly wealthy and heavily guarded.
Before he can make a move, two maids start circling the outer courtyard every day, watching his every move. They nearly catch him meeting with his informant.
Only after cornering one of them does he learn that the pretty, fair-skinned maid with tears in her eyes wants to learn some strength-building exercises for her frail older brother.
After negotiating,
he offers to teach her a set of boxing techniques in exchange for her letting him into the inner courtyard, successfully turning her to his side.
It's just that the way she looks at him is far too heated...
That night, back in the inner courtyard, Chunxiao takes out her little notebook and carefully writes down:
Fifth day of the third month, sunny.
The Bodhisattva Liang spent fifteen minutes flipping through the accounts in the master's study.
2026.7.26 Blurb completed
Theme: Dedication to one's work helps one grow.
