The Maid's Many Charms

* [Next novel coming soon: Did the Daoist Catch Any Demons Today?]

* Female-led forced love? / The aloof beauty falls hopelessly in love / Black-hearted heroine

* There will be several bonus chapters later.

Blurb:

Mingzhu endured three years for revenge before finally making her way into her enemy's household.

Who could have guessed that, by a twist of fate, she would be assigned to the eldest young master's courtyard?

With her bewitching looks, she pretended to be frail, but before she had even been there a full month, he saw through her and grabbed her by the throat, demanding to know what she was really after.

Mingzhu begged for mercy, while silently adding another grievance to her list.

She would get her revenge, sooner or later!

*

A delicate, pretty young maid arrived at Chu Yan's residence. She was stunning, but he paid her no mind.

Until, through some unknown means, one night of passion left her unharmed, while he found himself falling for her.

The way he had treated her badly before seemed to come back to punish him, piece by piece.

His eyes red, just as he was about to do as she had said and kneel to beg her, Chu Yan finally realized: how could he have such thoughts?

He couldn't bear to see her sad or hurt. He would even give up his life for her!

*

At first,

Mingzhu: Everyone in this household is my enemy. I want nothing more than to drink their blood and devour their flesh.

Chu Yan: My revenge plan, eighteen years in the making, cannot afford the slightest mistake.

Later,

Mingzhu: I thought he was my enemy too, but it turns out he's the most innocent person in this household.

Chu Yan: I got my revenge, but now I have no family left.

**

Content warnings:

1. The heroine suffers terribly early on. Read at your own risk.

2. There is plenty of romantic tension, but the leads never officially become a couple.

4. No one is a good person.

[Next novel coming soon: Did the Daoist Catch Any Demons Today?]

Blurb:

*The full manuscript is complete. Please add it to your favorites!

[Naive little tree spirit vs. shameless, useless Daoist]

A Fu realized she had been tricked.

Guan Sheng rescued her from a Daoist and bragged about how powerful his magic was, but when they faced the owner of the first marriage token, they were both sucked into an illusion.

A Fu asked, "Guan Chen, where's your magic?"

Guan Chen grinned sheepishly. "It stopped working."

Magic can stop working? Is he even a proper Daoist?

Guan Sheng was a half-baked Daoist whose magic worked only some of the time, but he never took it seriously.

His master had watched him loaf around all day, climbing trees to catch birds and wading into rivers to fish, while never putting any effort into training. Furious, he kicked Guan Sheng down the mountain and told him he could not return until he caught a demon.

Guan Chen had planned to go through the motions and bring back some little demon. The old man had not specified what kind, after all. But then he discovered that whenever he came into contact with the little demon he had accidentally rescued and planned to bring back as proof, his magic grew stronger. He became invincible!

*

A Fu's older sister was a marriage tree. Her lifelong wish was for lovers everywhere to resolve their misunderstandings and find their way to one another.

A Fu looked up to her sister and hoped to become her trusted helper.

But one day, A Fu received the news of her sister's death, along with many unfinished marriage tokens.

Wiping away her tears, A Fu set out to fulfill her sister's dying wish, uncover the cause of her death, and return the marriage tokens to their owners, one by one.

Guan Chen had only agreed to help A Fu return the wish tokens so he could coax the little demon into behaving and figure out what was going on between them. He never expected the owners of those marriage tokens to be more powerful than the last!

To escape danger, Guan Sheng put his shamelessness to good use.

Hold hands with A Fu, and he was full of energy, able to take on ten opponents!

Hug A Fu, and he was invincible, able to take on a hundred!

So, "A Fu! Hurry! This demon is too strong. Let me kiss you!"

A Fu: This Daoist really is shameless!

*

Mini-scene: Illusion One [A Fu (wild spirit) vs. Guan Sheng (scholar)]

Guan Sheng thought the scholar was a useless weakling, unable to lift a hand or shoulder a burden.

But then he saw the scholar become completely smitten at the sight of the spirit.

In a stiff, proper voice, he said the most embarrassing thing imaginable: "My lady, you look especially beautiful today. I would like to paint your portrait."

Ugh! He never expected anyone to be more shameless than him. Looks like he still had a lot to learn!

A Fu could not understand it either. They had both taken on female forms, so why did this spirit sway more than a tree when she walked?

Her clothes were so skimpy, and her eyes kept twitching as if she were having a fit.

"My dear husband, you tease me again."

Hearing such a coy voice come from her own mouth gave A Fu goosebumps.

[Each illusion is a separate arc. The male and female leads each experience the love stories of the marriage-token owners from a first-person perspective, and fall in love along the way.]

Theme: Stay true to yourself and grow toward the light