The Maid Who Doesn't Follow the Script

[Next up: My Cousin Avoids Me Like the Plague]

Blurb:

Gu Panzi transmigrated into a book as a young widow.

The original owner was beautiful, but her life was full of misfortune. Her husband died on their wedding night, she was forced to jump into a river, and her soul was lost in the city moat.

The good news: She survived.

The bad news: She was about to be sold into servitude.

And the place she was sold to was the residence of the story's great villain.

Gu Panzi: ...?

*

On her first day at the residence, Gu Panzi caught the great villain's eye.

The man had cold, striking features and dark, vivid eyes. When he heard her name, he laughed softly.

“So you came here to climb the social ladder.”

Panzi sounded like “climbing a branch,” and climbing a branch meant reaching for a high branch.

Gu Panzi gritted her teeth. “This servant wouldn't dare.”

On her third day at the residence, a spotless handkerchief appeared beneath the great villain's pillow. He was convinced it belonged to Gu Panzi.

The man tossed the handkerchief forward. It landed right in front of her, and he said nothing.

Gu Panzi was on the verge of tears. “This servant didn't do it.”

There was no way she'd dare leave a handkerchief there to seduce him.

On her fifth day at the residence, the young emperor took a fancy to Gu Panzi and asked the great villain to hand her over.

Not wanting to enter the palace, Gu Panzi hurriedly clung to the great villain's leg and swore to heaven and earth, “This servant is wholeheartedly devoted to Your Highness.”

The man looked down at her, his tone casual. “You actually harbor such feelings for me?”

Gu Panzi: “How would this servant dare?”

This misunderstanding had gotten way out of hand.

*

Qi Jun took a fancy to a maid in his residence and doted on her like she was a precious treasure, giving her the stars and denying her nothing.

All because the little maid kept insisting that she loved him wholeheartedly, would never betray him, and would stay with him forever.

That is, until the little maid had saved enough money to buy her freedom and happily walked out of the residence.

Without so much as a backward glance.

Qi Jun snapped the ring on his thumb in two.

The day he caught up with the little maid, she was enjoying herself out in the world, having seemingly forgotten that he even existed.

How dare she?

He grabbed her and pulled her into his arms. Facing the frightened little maid, he wore an unreadable expression. “Little liar. You charmed me, then kicked me to the curb.”

“I'd say you're pretty bold.”

Gu Panzi: “...”

[Reading Guide]

1. Both leads are each other's one and only. Happy ending!

2. A maid who is brilliant at putting on an act × a regent who seems like a villain but is actually righteous to the core

3. Also known as: I Accidentally Flirted with the Great Villain, Then Ran Away!

Next up: My Cousin Avoids Me Like the Plague. Blurb:

[A seductive beauty stops playing games, and her cool, aloof cousin starts losing his mind]

Jiang Wanqing's mother died when she was young. After her father passed away, she moved with her stepmother to stay with her maternal uncle's family in the capital.

She was beautiful, with skin like snow, a willowy figure, and a voice as sweet as an oriole's song. As soon as she entered the residence, the eldest cousin, a good-for-nothing who never studied, set his sights on her.

While fending off her clingy eldest cousin, she also had to deal with her wicked stepmother, who wanted to sell her off for profit.

Caught between a rock and a hard place, she turned her attention to her second cousin, a principled and dignified man with the grace of a bright moon and a clear sky.

*

The first time Rong Ji unintentionally heard Jiang Wanqing speak, he was standing outside a rockery.

Inside, she was entangled with his elder brother, speaking gently and sweetly. He watched as she brought his brother completely to heel.

The page beside him gaped. “Cousin Miss really has no shame!”

He shot him a sidelong glance. “Don't speak ill of people behind their backs.”

*

The second time was also outside the rockery.

This time, she was with the maid who served her.

She seemed to have suffered some injustice, crying until her face was streaked with tears.

The maid urged her to find another way out soon. She nodded and agreed, saying she would find a new backer.

The page beside him stammered, “Cousin Miss is so fickle. Who's going to be the next fool?”

He didn't answer.

*

Later, a graceful figure appeared in Rong Ji's courtyard, pouring tea and serving him with perfect care. The others couldn't help gossiping about her.

She seemed not to notice. One day, she took a fragrant sachet from her sleeve and offered it to him, blushing. “Second Cousin, I made this with my own hands. Please accept it.”

He stared at the mandarin ducks embroidered on the sachet, lost in thought.

So he was the fool after all?

*

Once Jiang Wanqing had chosen her target, she went to Rong Ji every day to flatter him and make sure he noticed her.

But no matter how alluringly she looked at him, how much she bent over backward, or how many times she pricked her fingers with a needle, he remained unmoved.

When he coldly rejected the sachet she'd embroidered with such care, her heart finally went cold and her feelings died.

She took back the sachet and walked away without looking back.

*

After that day, Rong Ji's courtyard grew much quieter.

The next time he saw Jiang Wanqing, she was laughing and chatting with a scholar from the residence. As they parted, she shyly handed him a sachet.

He looked closely. It seemed so familiar.

He rushed forward and snatched the sachet back, staring at the carefully embroidered mandarin ducks playing in the water.

His handsome face suddenly darkened!

Reading Guide:

1. A scheming beauty × a principled gentleman.

2. Bringing the aloof, high-and-mighty beauty down from his pedestal.

Theme: Stand on your own two feet and be self-reliant