Ye Lingxuan, a sociology overachiever, dies suddenly at her desk in an IT giant’s cubicle farm. When she opens her eyes again, she has become the orphaned daughter of a disgraced minister implicated in the Han witchcraft scandal, abandoned among the starving, freezing refugees outside Chang’an. With death at her heels, she turns modern knowledge into a lifeline: she improves salt-making, invents a soap recipe, and introduces bookkeeping. Against all odds, she blossoms from the dust and becomes a mysterious legend among Chang’an’s newly wealthy elite.
Liu Bingyi, a down-and-out great-grandson of the emperor, lives among the common folk, caked in mud. A bowl of hot porridge and a steamed bun, offered casually by her, become the brightest light in his bleak life. He watches her stir the currents of power with her astonishing intellect, navigate the mighty General Huo Yunting, who holds sway over the court, collaborate with Shen Yanzhi, a merchant genius wealthier than anyone in the realm, and debate with Xiao Changyan, an elegant and erudite scholar. They are all drawn to her, but she knows her own heart: all she seeks is freedom and the chance to make her mark in the world.
From the streets to the imperial palace, from the world of commerce to the imperial court, Ye Lingxuan wields modern thinking as a blade, cutting through the weight of two thousand years. She helps him make his way through a thicket of thorns, rising step by step from the descendant of a criminal to the highest seat in Weiyang Palace. When the Son of Heaven offers her the realm as his betrothal gift, she takes a step back and smiles brightly. “Your Majesty, my women’s academy isn’t finished yet, my business empire still needs to expand, and my practice of sociology is only just beginning. These palace walls can’t contain my world.”
This is a legendary tale of a woman who thrives in an ancient age, outwits fate with her intelligence, stays true to herself with clear-eyed resolve, and ultimately carves out a vast domain of her own beyond the bounds of power and love.
