The Consort Is Quite the Slacker

Prince Shen Yuqi is willful and outrageous, and the emperor has taken a dislike to him. All that stands between him and being deposed is an imperial decree.

Everyone avoids the Eastern Palace, but Asheng cheerfully packs her bags and heads there.

The Crown Prince stays shut away all day and dislikes having attendants fuss over him, so all she has to do is tidy the courtyard. She gets paid and doesn't have to serve her master. It couldn't be an easier job.

One day, while Asheng is secretly grilling fish in the back courtyard, a strange little eunuch appears.

He is dressed in a wrinkled undershirt, his eyes fixed on the grilled fish in her hands.

Seeing how handsome he is, Asheng takes pity on him and gives him a fish. From then on, they become partners in crime, eating their way through everything edible in the Eastern Palace.

Shen Yuqi fell victim to his father's suspicions, was poisoned with a strange toxin, and confined to the Eastern Palace to await his end.

After one bout of poison-induced agony, he wakes to the smell of grilled fish and discovers that the new cleaning maid has grilled the national treasure, a dragonfish tribute from Nanfan.

At first, Shen Yuqi thinks that a servant who breaks the rules like this deserves to die.

But later...

He and the little maid each lounge on a chaise longue in the courtyard, basking in the sun and listening to music, roasting sweet potatoes and eating grilled fish. He thinks... it's delicious.

Until the little maid talks about her so-called ideal, which isn't really an ideal at all: leaving the palace and going home.

The more Shen Yuqi thinks about it, the more uncomfortable he feels. That night, he summons her to attend to him personally.

Only when Shen Yuqi pins her against a wall, gripping her chin, does Asheng realize that the person she'd been lazing around with wasn't a eunuch, but the Crown Prince!

Theme: Be a little kinder to yourself