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CRIMES AND CALORIES | PART 1
The people of the Great Capital loved nothing more than to laugh, and for years, they had two favorite punchlines.
The first was Xiao Jingyi — the illegitimate son of a grand noble, born to a nameless songstress. In a court obsessed with bloodlines and highborn privilege, Jingyi was treated as a ghost, a stain on his father’s spotless robes. He was given no title, shown no warmth, and beaten down by half-brothers who assumed he would crawl in the mud forever. They whispered behind his back that a bastard born in the gutters could never amount to anything, no matter how many books he read or how fiercely he held a blade.
The second was Li Meifen — the only daughter of the wealthy Li merchant family. In a world that demanded noble ladies be frail, silent, and willow-waisted, Meifen was vibrant, sharp-witted, and proudly full-figured. Her family had money, but the snobbish high society sneered at her merchant roots and mocked her curves. They blinded themselves to her brilliant mind, her razor-sharp forensic talent, and her boundless, warm heart. To the narrow-minded gossips, a girl who didn’t starve herself for a husband was a…
