Su Wanqing was an investment banking director in her previous life, dying suddenly in front of a PowerPoint presentation for a ten-billion-yuan merger. When she opened her eyes again, she was the deposed empress of the Great Zhou dynasty, and her first order of business was to kneel for three hours.
She looked at the account books, where funds had been siphoned away. Without tears or complaint, she merely changed her position. “Cuiwei, bring me a cushion.”
In her last life, she worked for capitalists. This time, she would be one.
The emperor thought she reeked of money? She went straight into the imperial study to talk business. “Your Majesty, you need money, and I need power. Shall we be partners?”
The Noble Consort laughed at her for not knowing how to compete for favor? She taught the Noble Consort how to use equity incentives to buy into Kunning Palace.
The Empress Dowager treated her like a pawn? She used an asset spin-off to give the Empress Dowager a peaceful retirement.
Three years later, everyone in the harem held shares, the great clans at court had gone bankrupt, corrupt officials had been rooted out, and the treasury was full enough to fund three armies. Along the way, she also put down a rebellion, provided relief to disaster victims, gave birth to a son, and turned the Princess of Northern Yan into a business partner.
And the emperor who once despised her began, at some point, to visit Kunning Palace every day, learning to cook and care for children, then clumsily making her braised pork.
“The luckiest thing that ever happened to me was marrying you.”
She smiled. “The luckiest thing that ever happened to me was dying suddenly.”
“What kind of thing is that to say?”
“If I hadn’t died, how could I have met Your Majesty?”
One-line summary: A former investment banking director transmigrates into the deposed empress and uses business tactics to navigate palace intrigue, eventually winning over the emperor too.
