The Minister in His Palm

[Opens at 300 Favorites] Liu Yan transmigrates into the lowest-ranking kitchen maid in the Marquis's household. All she wants in life is to save enough money to buy her freedom and leave the estate, so she can live in peace somewhere of her own. Until one day, she breaks a teacup and is held down in the snow and slapped across the face. On the verge of death, her face burning, she looks up and meets a pair of cold, smiling phoenix eyes: Lu Jinxing, heir to the title of Marquis of Jing'an, the man who rules this household. He points at her carelessly, as if choosing a cat or a dog. "Mother told me to take in a maid who can warm my bed, didn't she? I find something interesting in this girl's eyes. Take her to my quarters." From then on, he cuts off her escape routes, breaks her pride, and mocks her, saying she will be nothing but a plaything in his hands for the rest of her life. Liu Yan refuses to give herself to him. But she tries to escape three times, and three times he personally catches her and drags her back. On a stormy night, he grips her ankle and drags her, covered in mud, along the corridor through the entire Marquis's estate. His laughter chills her to the bone. "A Yan, the capital is my hunting ground. In life, you belong to me. When you die... even your bones will be buried in my courtyard." Until Great Yong goes to war with the Northern Desert. Years later, Lu Jinxing enters the royal court of the Northern Desert as an envoy. In the golden hall, a woman lounges beside the young emperor of the Northern Desert, ruling from behind the curtain and honored as the Empress Dowager. On the night of a palace banquet, Lu Jinxing risks his life to sneak into the forbidden palace and traps the woman between the curtains. His voice is hoarse. "A Yan, come back with me." Liu Yan raises a finger, her phoenix eyes frosted over. "Lord Lu, take a good look." "These days, you are the one in my hands." Alternate history, not intended to be historically accurate. One-on-one romance, both leads' first time. Possessive pursuit, outrageous melodrama, a ten-alarm crematorium. Premise: Resist to the very end.