A Little Maid's Forced Struggle

“The Exiled Female Side Character Takes the World by Storm” is complete. Welcome to read it, and thank you.

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Blurb:

After three generations of emperors brought peace and prosperity through good governance and policies that benefited the people, the Great Qi kingdom reached unprecedented heights. The nation was stable, the common people were prosperous, and every trade flourished.

As night fell, the night market in Sui County, under Linyi Prefecture in Dongchang Prefecture, was packed with vendors. The taverns and teahouses lining the streets blazed with light, and Xiangfang Tower was filled with patrons, a scene of unrestrained revelry.

Unlike the lively Xiaoyao Pavilion in Xiangfang Tower's front courtyard, a cramped, low room in the servants' quarters held Ye Yunqing, lying beneath the bed with the stub of a candle burning beside her. She was secretly sorting through a clump of fallen hair she'd collected, one strand at a time.

Ye Yunqing was born into this world fourteen years ago. Her mother had once been the top courtesan here, but contracted a filthy disease and died when Ye Yunqing was five. If she couldn't find a way to escape, she would be sent to the lowest level of Xiangfang Tower, the Wazi Pavilion, where men could buy pleasure at bargain prices.

The fallen hair she'd collected from the courtesans over the years was Ye Yunqing's ticket to freedom. Every day, she was forced to struggle to escape her lowly status, because not fighting meant death.

And she wanted to live.

If she could one day cast off her low status and become a free woman, she wouldn't ask for wealth and glory, nor envy the lives of immortals and beautiful companions. All she wanted was a peaceful life and a shop of her own on the neighboring street...

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Important reading notes:

1. The heroine starts out with the low status of a brothel girl.

2. There is a male lead, but the romance comes much later.

3. Fictional setting, lots of original worldbuilding, and a story about everyday struggles.

Theme: This isn't a story that glorifies suffering, but one about doing everything possible to reach the light.