The Merchant's Daughter Sings

The Song of Yan: The merchant's daughter sings her song.

In the Great Qian Dynasty, the Shang family, the capital's foremost merchant clan, was framed and stripped of everything. In recognition of the family's repeated service in saving the country, only their property was confiscated; the whole clan was exiled to the bitterly cold region of northern Qian. Along the way, the Shang family patriarch died of illness, while her grandfather, Shang Minghai, stubbornly held on. The heroine, Shang Ruge, was only twelve. Her father, uncles, and all eighteen of her elder and cousin brothers were conscripted into the army. Only her youngest brother was still a baby in swaddling clothes. The women of the family fell ill and died one after another. By the time they reached the northern Qian border town of Fengxue Ting, only her eldest aunt, third aunt, mother, grandfather, three younger female cousins, and baby brother had managed to survive.

To stay alive, the family joined forces to restore their fortunes. With Shang Ruge's tenacity and her grandfather's guidance, the fur trade gave them a way forward. In time, her exceptional business acumen made her one of the Great Qian Dynasty's leading female merchants, with enterprises spanning the nine provinces and the four seas. She established trading caravans and expanded maritime shipping. Later, she met the male lead, Yan Chenxi, heir to the marquis's household, who had been driven from home by a plot and left to wander. Together, they built a legendary life.