The Strongest Female Official, Starting as a Neighborhood Head!

Shen Qingci, the legitimate daughter of the Duke of Zhenguo's household in Great Xia, was brilliant and breathtakingly beautiful from a young age, with a bright future ahead of her. But over the course of ten years, one legitimate family member after another died horribly. Hidden currents swirled, and danger lurked everywhere. To protect herself and lie low while she watched and waited, she had no choice but to feign madness, conceal her sharp edge, and let the world ridicule her. She had intended to keep her head down and wait for the right moment. Who could have guessed that her third brother would suffer the humiliation of having his betrothal broken off by the imperial family, leaving the Duke of Zhenguo's household on the brink of ruin in an instant? With her family facing imminent destruction, Shen Qingci could no longer stand by. She cast off her disguise of madness and foolishness, stepping forward to turn the tide. In a single contest of wits, she incurred the emperor's wrath and fell into disgrace. Once the treasured legitimate daughter of a duke, she was demoted to the lowliest post in the marketplace: ward chief. A tiny marketplace is full of filth and corruption, and yet it is also a miniature of the imperial court. From then on, this woman entered the world of officialdom, starting as a grassroots ward chief. She settled disputes in the marketplace, unraveled mystery after mystery, and climbed steadily toward the top. Holding power in her hands, she investigated openly and in secret, following every clue until she could expose the mastermind behind the plot against the Shen family. In the shifting sea of power, schemes and calculations abound, and every grudge, feud, and romance becomes part of the game. Witness Shen Qingci, legitimate daughter of the Duke of Zhenguo's household, brave the thorny path of officialdom as a woman, take control of her own fate, clear her family's name, slay her enemies, and rise to become Great Xia's most powerful female official, dazzling the court and commanding the realm!