My Ex-Girlfriend Is the Empress Dowager

The court had just established its six ministries, and its foundations were still shaky. To put down the uprisings in the provinces and the powerful bandits of the jianghu once and for all, the Ministry of Justice founded the Six Fan Gate to train a new generation of operatives, known as "hounds." The hounds reported directly to the palace and were not under the jurisdiction of the six ministries.

Liu Yan'er received a secret imperial decree to investigate Chancellor Shen Kuo's embezzlement of military funds. While undercover, she unexpectedly met Shen Xiang, the Shen family's young lady, and the two fell in love. After Shen Kuo was imprisoned, Shen Xiang was sent to the imperial palace to restore her family's fortunes.

The ailing emperor finally passed away. The former elite hound of the Six Fan Gate, now an innkeeper, was about to face off against the once refined young lady who had become the empress dowager, wielding power over the court.

The empress dowager gave Liu Yan'er a choice: would she "serve as an official" or become the young emperor's "talented consort"?

Liu Yan'er: "Can I have both?"

Then she was thrown out of the palace.

She had gone out during curfew and was sentenced to twenty strokes of the cane.

The new Vice Minister of Justice, unable to get back on her feet, missed her reporting time and was then impeached by the Minister of Justice. The charges piled up, and her salary was docked for three years. Liu Yan'er officially began her new life as a government official with no pay.

The empress dowager said the Vice Minister of Justice's residence wasn't ready, so Liu Yan'er could stay in Zichen Hall for the time being. Every day, when work ended, her colleagues left the palace while she went in. The already controversial "parachuted-in" vice minister became the talk of the town. Rumors flew around the court that the Vice Minister of Justice was actually the empress dowager's lover. To curry favor with this esteemed lover, some officials gave her a house, others invited her to dinner and sent her gifts, and still others sent beautiful women to her home...

Theme: Stay true to your original purpose, and you will reach your destination.