The Junior Adviser to the Assistant Minister of the Court of Judicial Review

[Cool, dignified junior minister of the Court of Judicial Review x sweet-natured daughter of the Commissioner of Provincial Inspection]

1.

Dong Bao has come of age but still isn't married. She's waiting for Li Yunjin, the son of a vice minister's family, who is observing three years of mourning for his mother.

Dong Bao is gentle as jade, and has always hoped Li Yunjin would come back and cherish her.

But she hadn't expected that a handsome, graceful man would arrive at the same time, trying to steal her away. He is brilliant in looks and talent, exceptionally clever, capable of solving cases and winning a young woman's heart.

He turns out to be the newly appointed junior minister of the Court of Judicial Review, a third-rank official whose status outranks even her father's. She addresses him as "Sir."

Her brother says Sir Song is the good match worthy of her. Her mother says Sir Song is the ideal son-in-law who will make her so happy she can't stop smiling.

Dong Bao can't understand what is so great about Sir Song. Then a misunderstanding turns her into a female adviser disguised as a man, accompanying the junior minister on his investigations. Sir Song treats his adviser as if she were too precious to risk letting her out of his sight. He never lets her near a corpse, shields her whenever danger strikes, never calls himself "this official" in front of her, and even buys her candied hawthorns from time to time.

Dong Bao's attitude toward Sir Song changes completely. She thinks to herself, Sir Song is so wonderful. I can't get enough!

The man is a master detective, skilled at deduction and autopsies. But how has his presence become so impossible to escape? Dong Bao blushes, wondering what feelings might be hiding in a young woman's heart...

2.

Song Qi fell for this little girl at first sight. She's soft and sweet, like a little dumpling, but far too innocent. Whenever he sees her, he can't help wanting to stay by her side.

Since he's short an adviser, why not go along with the plan and let her take the job? The composed Sir Song is already blooming with joy inside.

Young ladies are timid, and the woman he loves all the more so. If he doesn't protect her, should he leave it to someone else?

Cases keep coming one after another, and he's terrified she'll get hurt. Even the smallest scrape pains him terribly.

Song Qi devotes himself body and soul to the massacre of the Crown Prince's tutor's family, a case entrusted to him by His Majesty. But that doesn't stop him from wanting to stay by her side forever.

If she needs him, he is willing to be the husband she can rely on, one who can put on gloves to solve cases and buy her candied hawthorns.

Reading Guide:

1. One-on-one sweet romance. The focus is on solving cases, with romance on the side.

2. An alternate Song Dynasty, with many invented details.

3. The author's first book. The plot and logic are not very rigorous; it's an early work, so it's not highly recommended.

Core Theme: Even in troubled times, justice exists