I Don't Deserve This!!

When Zhuang Yao was young, his family fell into ruin. Weak, helpless, and desperately short of money, he looked for work and became a prison guard.

He was known as a "yamen lackey," the nasty little underling in the saying that it's easier to meet the King of Hell than to deal with his underlings.

Sometimes he extorted unscrupulous merchants; sometimes he blackmailed corrupt gentry.

Sometimes he brought meals and soup to young ladies and madams who had fallen into hardship and ended up in prison.

He diligently skimmed whatever he could.

Thanks to his hard work and a twist of fate, he impressed a powerful nobleman and received a jade pendant.

The country bumpkin didn't know how to appraise it. "White jade? Is it worth anything?"

"One hundred thousand strings of cash."

"Whoa!" The youth was both delighted and uneasy. "It's so valuable. You're really giving it to me?"

The nobleman told him, "As long as you dare to wear it on your person for more than three years, it will be yours forever."

They say fortune is found where danger lies!

Zhuang Yao gritted his teeth and put it on. When he went out and met the nobleman's relatives and friends, they were all shocked and stared at him. The nobleman's parents were so stirred they even fainted.

He counted down the days, silently enduring it.

Then, just as the three years were about to be up, the nobleman suddenly forced him onto the bed. No matter how much Zhuang Yao begged, he wouldn't let go.

Zhuang Yao was furious. "I only accepted a jade pendant. That doesn't deserve this!"

The nobleman coaxed him in a low voice. "What if I give you this, too?"

He was left gasping for breath, but managed to reach out and take it: a heavy gold seal.

"What... what is this?"

The room was dim, and the bed was a scene of chaos. The nobleman had no time to answer.

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Here's the blurb for the next novel. Please add it to your reading list!~

Lin Zhao is the illegitimate son of the Marquis of Pingnan.

In his previous life, he was acknowledged by his father's family, only to be imprisoned as a scapegoat and sentenced to be cut to pieces. His mother and uncle's family were wrongly killed as a result.

To the marquis's household, an illegitimate son was worth less than dirt.

Reborn at sixteen, the year he passed the provincial examination, he was met by people sent from the marquis's household to bring him home.

Lin Zhao promptly refused. "Tell the marquis I am not worthy of entering his household. In this life and the next, I will take my mother's surname, Lin, and never change it to Chen!"

When the Marquis of Pingnan heard, he sneered. "As expected, a bastard raised outside the household has no manners. He passes one examination by luck and gets carried away. When he hits a wall, he'll come crawling to me on his knees."

Yet Lin Zhao's examinations and career went smoothly: he became the top provincial graduate, then the top candidate in the metropolitan examination, and finally third in the palace examination. He became a student of the Emperor, entered the Hanlin Academy, and was appointed a compiler.

That same year, the Emperor's younger brother, Prince Ning, a member of the imperial family, was ordered to join the Grand Secretariat and gained power over the court.

Before he knew it, Prince Ning admired Lin Zhao more and more, promoting and protecting him.

Father and son served in the same court, yet did not acknowledge one another.

Finally, the Marquis of Pingnan could no longer hold back. He cornered his illegitimate son outside the palace gates and scolded him. "You brat! How long are you going to keep this up? You're my son. Whether or not you change your surname, you're still of the Chen family..."

Before he could finish, someone suddenly called out, "Old Marquis Chen."

The Marquis of Pingnan turned in surprise.

Prince Ning was imposing without raising his voice. He said calmly, "By the conventions of society, I should call you Father-in-law."

"W-what?"

Father-in-law?!

The Marquis of Pingnan was stunned, his pupils shrinking.

Prince Ning looked at the young man beside him, a hint of helpless amusement in his voice. "But Lord Lin disagrees." He fixed his gaze on the marquis. "I will not tolerate anyone hurting him, including you."

"You... you two..."

The Marquis of Pingnan closed his eyes and fainted on the spot from rage.

Theme: A little miser's road to fortune: My years as a prison guard