"The Prince Consort Dou Ergou" is a novel set during the Hongwu period of the Ming Dynasty. It tells the story of the ups and downs of the struggle of Dou Ergou, a poor scholar in Hejian Prefecture, Hebei Province. The book is divided into multiple volumes. The first volume currently available shows his early hardships and family changes, while the second volume focuses on his turbulent journey after winning the gold medal, marrying the princess, and then returning to his hometown to settle old grievances and rectify the administration.
The story begins in the 23rd year of Hongwu, when Dou Ergou was living in a poor peasant family. He is talented, loves reading, and hopes to change his destiny through the imperial examination, but he fails repeatedly and is ridiculed by the villagers. The elder sister-in-law Liu Xianghua was mean and domineering. An egg triggered a family conflict, and the family was eventually forced to separate. Dou Ergou had to live in a dilapidated house in Susukada and depend on his elderly and sick parents. With the help of his good wife Chen Hongmei, he studied hard while struggling to make ends meet. During this period, his parents died one after another in anger due to Liu Xianghua's long-term bullying and persecution.
In the twenty-sixth year of Hongwu's reign, Dou Ergou went to Beijing to take the exam and won the third place in the first class of high school. His life was reversed. In the Jinluan Palace, he was appreciated by the Hongwu Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang, and was given the name "Dou Jin". He was given an official position and married to the fifth princess Zhu Runing. Six years later, Dou Jin returned to his hometown in rich clothes and found that his hometown had changed. With the support of the princess, he used an iron fist to thoroughly investigate the official administration of Hejian Prefecture, and brought to justice a group of corrupt officials such as the county magistrate and prefect who had committed corruption and violated the law and colluded with his sister-in-law Liu Xianghua. At the same time, he also settled the family's old accounts, so that Liu Xianghua, the evil sister-in-law who forced her parents to death and abused her wife and children, got the punishment she deserved. In the end, he moved the graves of his parents and erected a monument, and the injustice was settled.
