The Republic's First Lady Detective

[Please add In the Mountains and Hide My Purple Daoist Robe to your reading list~] Yin Yan planned to quit the business for good after one last job. She specially put on a lace maid's dress, applied lipstick, and covered every finger with perfume. In disguise, she went to the client's door to ensnare him. At the Jasmine Hotel, her target, Du Yechen, removed his gold-rimmed glasses, weariness filling his refined features. When the doorbell rang, the elegant, aloof gentleman rose calmly and drew her into his arms. Yin Yan had long heard that Du Yechen was ascetic and impossible to seduce, keeping everyone at arm's length. Who could have guessed that as soon as they met, he would place a kiss, real or feigned, on the back of her snowy-white neck? The eight great families that had once shaken the martial world vanished overnight, leaving no trace of their members. As the foremost family head, Du Yechen was caught in a deadly trap while investigating the deaths of his parents. He plotted carefully and laid a snare. Before long, someone was caught. It was none other than the delicate young woman before him, Yin Yan. Troublemaking, irresistible beauty x elegant, aloof gentleman Glamorous cheongsam beauty x aloof family head Reader's guide: 1. Family rivalries in the martial world, mystery-solving and investigation, with lots of romance. 2. An alternate Republican-era setting, very loosely based on history, with many original liberties. Historical nitpicking is not welcome. 3. Updates every night at nine. Both leads are romantically inexperienced. △ Weibo: Dear Caodeng Daren My next book, Marrying Her Brother (Reborn as Her Ex-Husband's Younger Sister), is coming soon. Please add it to your reading list! In her previous life, Luo Yao lost both her parents, and her family fell into decline. To protect the family estate her parents left behind, she refused help from her mother's old friend and was determined to take a husband into her household rather than marry out. But before Luo Yao's plans could come to fruition, her uncles plotted against her because of her beauty. When Chancellor Xie Ci came to inspect the region, they sent her to his bed as a gift. It was said that Xie Ci of the Qi Kingdom was the model of a noble young gentleman: disciplined, courteous, and indifferent to women. That night, he should have set a trap to capture corrupt officials, but he was struck by a love curse and fell into an entanglement of passion, sharing intimacy with Luo Yao. Afterward, Xie Ci despised the local clans' despicable behavior and took his anger out on Luo Yao as well. Luo Yao and Xie Ci's brief affair became an unspeakable humiliation. In Xie Ci's eyes, Luo Yao was nothing more than medicine for his curse. He couldn't be without her, but she could never be seen in public. Later, Xie Ci's curse was cured, and Luo Yao lost his favor and was hidden away in a villa outside the capital. The following year, Luo Yao fell gravely ill and did not survive the winter. Reborn, Luo Yao feared Xie Ci's cold heart and wanted no part in repeating the past. She was tired and wanted to live out the rest of her life in peace. Luo Yao gladly accepted help from her mother's old friend. At the age of seven, she traveled to the capital and went to live at Aunt Jiang's residence, becoming a beloved young lady, pampered and adored. But no one told her that this old friend was none other than her ex-husband Xie Ci's... mother. Living under the same roof, one day Luo Yao left the residence to meet a familiar young gentleman, when she heard a devilish voice behind her. "Yaoyao, wait." Luo Yao turned around, looking horrified. "Big Brother? What is it?" Remembering her past life, she wanted nothing to do with this older brother. Xie Ci: "Come to my room after dinner. I'll teach you mathematics." Luo Yao: "..." Her brother had suddenly changed his aloof ways, catching Luo Yao completely off guard. Xie Ci had hated her so much in her previous life. Now that she'd become his younger sister, surely he wouldn't repeat the same mistakes? But Luo Yao didn't know that Xie Ci remembered everything about their past-life entanglement. Theme: Cherish the people in your life.