I Find the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review Quite Alluring

[Upcoming Novel] East Palace Maidservant (Reborn)

I find the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review so charming, but alas, he treats me with nothing but a cold glare.

Xu Yuniang was born into a family of merchants. She was talented, gentle, and beautiful.

Her father was a son of a concubine, oppressed by his legitimate mother and watched closely by the rest of the clan. When Yuniang was eight, her only older brother died. To protect her family's property, she put aside her hairpins and skirts, took on her brother's identity as Xu Yulang, and accompanied her father around Jinling.

To uncover the truth about her birth, she took her brother's name and went to the capital to sit the imperial examinations. To her surprise, she passed at the top and became the youngest-ever Minister of the Court of Judicial Review. Xu Yuniang thought, Now I've really made a name for myself. It'll be hard to fake my death and disappear now...

Ji Fengqing was born into a distinguished family. He was peerlessly handsome and elegant.

He sat the imperial examinations, came third, and joined the Court of Judicial Review. There he met the top scholar who was a woman disguised as a man. From then on, her figure haunted his dreams every night...

The first time Ji Fengqing went to the opera house, he was accompanying Xu Yulang on an investigation.

A line from the stage, "Why is there a mark from an earring on your ear?" stirred something in his heart.

He turned to Xu Yulang and teased her with a smile. "Did you get that piercing when you played Guanyin as a boy?"

Xu Yulang glanced at Ji Fengqing and gently fanned herself with her folding fan, but said nothing. In his heart, Ji Fengqing found himself saying the same thing as Liang Shanbo: from that day on, he no longer dared look at Guanyin.

A little scene:

"I know you're a woman."

"What are you talking about?" She pretended not to know.

"I saw your ear piercing before," Ji Fengqing said. "Don't try to fool me."

Hearing that, Xu Yulang flew into a rage. Ignoring the pain, she pulled a small knife from her robes and held it between Ji Fengqing's legs.

"If you dare tell anyone, you know what will happen!"

Ji Fengqing had been holding back a lot he wanted to say to her, but seeing her act like this amused him. Then he looked down at the knife glinting between his legs and felt a little scared.

This story is set in a fictional world. The children of merchants can sit the imperial examinations, and candidates aren't searched. The author has a reliable track record of finishing stories, so feel free to bookmark it.

[Upcoming Novel] East Palace Maidservant (Reborn)

Because her family was poor, Shen Su was sent to the palace at thirteen. It meant one less mouth to feed, some silver for the family, and no more forced labor. Everyone in the Shen family was happy, except Shen Su.

She worked diligently in the palace, hoping only to stay safe until she turned twenty-five and could leave. Perhaps the childhood friend who lived next door was still waiting for her. And if he wasn't, that was fine too. Getting out was all that mattered.

The Crown Prince, Zheng Feng, was gravely ill, and no medicine could help him. A Daoist priest read his fate and declared that a maid in the Laundry Bureau had a compatible birth chart and could bring him good fortune by marrying him. Everyone in the palace thought Shen Su was lucky, rising from humble beginnings to become a phoenix. But Shen Su was afraid of him. They said the Crown Prince looked so imposing that a single glance could scare someone half to death. Shen Su thought he might even eat people.

Once she arrived at the Eastern Palace, Shen Su carried on working diligently. The Crown Prince merely kept her by his side to attend to him. He made no improper advances. Perhaps he really had brought her there to bring himself good fortune?

At the New Year's Eve banquet, Shen Su stood by the Crown Prince. The wife of Grand Tutor Shen only had to look at her once before she couldn't take her eyes away. Shen Su looked just like the little daughter she had lost many years ago.

All these coincidences and layers of mystery made it seem as if Shen Su's past was not so simple.

Many years later, as Shen Su held her little daughter in the palace, she looked back on the past and felt that stories in books were never as exciting as real life.

A little scene one:

Shen Su followed the palace steward toward the Eastern Palace, her slender white hands clutching the hem of her clothes. She didn't want to go!

Zheng Feng watched the timid, delicate girl following behind the steward. Her little face was nearly bright red.

"Come here."

Shen Su gritted her teeth and stamped her foot. Fine, she'd go. She was already here, so what good would being afraid do?

Zheng Feng laughed at her show of bravado. Having lived another life, he had to protect his little beauty this time. He needed no one else in his harem. She alone was enough.

Zheng Feng loved her and wanted her, too. He knew that if he crooked a finger, Shen Su would have no choice but to obey. But he wanted her to come willingly, to have eyes only for him.

A little scene two:

Late at night, candlelight flickered in the Eastern Palace's inner hall. Shen Su stood beside Zheng Feng as he swung the account book in his hand. Her little box sat wide open on the desk, revealing the silver she'd saved.

"You've got quite a bit in this little stash of yours. Are you still thinking of running away?"

After saying this, Zheng Feng pulled Shen Su into his arms.

"The Crown Princess is a Shen now. What more could you want?"

Shen Su took a deep breath.

"If I said I forgot to put this in my dowry, would you believe me?"

Zheng Feng tossed the account book onto the desk and swept Shen Su into his arms.

"Whether I believe you or not, you'll find out soon enough."

A sweet, soft, adorable maid x a calculating, devoted Crown Prince

[Recommendations]

My friend Yibei's Unrecorded Years: a proud, scheming young general x a sweet girl who has never known love, an arranged marriage that turns into love, then a regretful pursuit

My friend Tou Ni Yi Mu Gua's Lady, Take Your Own Life Before the City: He wants to make her emperor and take her as his wife.

Theme: The net of heaven is vast, but no wrong escapes it.