The Scheming Maid's Rise to Power

[My revenge story, The Escaped Concubine, is now underway] [Please add my upcoming story, The Scheming Beauty's Rise to Power, to your collection.] A slave is a lower-class person who is oppressed, exploited, and forced to work, with no personal freedom. Yingxue was not only a slave, but a slave among slaves: born into servitude. She was born to be her master's possession. If she was pretty, her fangs would be clipped so she could become her master's concubine and seduce or win over a new son-in-law. If she was clever, her beauty would be concealed so she could serve as her master's maid, never leaving her side through eating, drinking, or any other need. If she was graceful, she had to keep out of sight and hide her talents, barely speaking, lest the masters and young gentlemen of the household force themselves on her. And Yingxue was pretty, clever, and graceful. The young mistress saw her as a thorn in her side. She both relied on Yingxue to secretly tempt her philandering future husband and feared that Yingxue was ambitious and plotting to take her place. Yingxue said nothing. In front of the young mistress, she wept and pleaded, insisting she would never dare betray her. But in front of the future husband, her voice softened and she wept like a flower in the rain, coaxing him with every word to visit her room. Only after Yingxue rose from maid to concubine, then became a co-wife, and finally received the title of an honored lady did she leisurely tell her young mistress: Yingxue simply didn't want to be a slave anymore. [Content warnings] (Cover by the kind and talented BS. Sending love!) 1. The heroine is a naive sweetheart early on, but becomes a scheming black-hearted beauty later, using any means necessary to rise in status. 2. I'm sure I'll get criticized for writing this story, but please don't attack the author personally. 3. Women of that era didn't have especially progressive ideas. The heroine does everything she does simply because she doesn't want to be a slave. 4. The heroine's values don't represent the author's. The definition of