To Be a Maid

(A down-on-her-luck orphan determined to rise vs. a pretender prince who seizes her by force; they pretend to be lovers, each becoming the other’s cage)

At fourteen, Su Zai volunteered to sell herself into service as a maid.

With her plain, willow-like beauty, she barely stood out among the countless beauties in the prince’s residence.

On the surface, she was humble and gentle. In secret, she put all her effort into getting close to Prince Lin.

At first, no one paid her any mind. But by the time they realized what was happening, she had already become the most cherished “Lady Su” in the residence.

Only then did everyone realize she had been seeking to climb the social ladder by attaching herself to royalty.

She didn’t complain or make excuses. Instead, she shut herself away, carefully nursed her health, and spent every day plotting how to advance further.

Everyone in the Great Xuan Dynasty knew Prince Lin was a womanizer.

In seven years of marriage, he had taken countless beautiful women as confidantes.

When he first met Su Zai, he thought she was merely a delicate, gentle little maid, someone he could simply dote on.

After spending day and night together, he realized he had fallen deeply in love with her without even noticing.

But fate had other plans. When the truth of her identity finally came to light, the woman who had once smiled sweetly at him had already vanished, leaving neither a person nor a letter behind.

He prided himself on having passed through a thousand flowers without a single petal clinging to him.

Yet, for some reason, he tossed and turned all night, tasting the bitter feeling of being abandoned…