In a fictional ancient dynasty, during the Qing'an era, civil officials are favored over the military, and rigid class distinctions prevail. Merchant families may be wealthy, but their social standing is low, so they prize marriage alliances as a way to attach themselves to officialdom. For the poor and the merchant class, the imperial examinations are the only proper path to advancement.
Li Yanqi was passed off as a boy by her mother from infancy. Medication suppressed the development of her female characteristics, and for eighteen years she lived as a man. On the surface, she is a wastrel cast out by her family, but in truth she is brilliant and remembers everything she sees. At her mother’s strict command to “hide your talents and stay alive,” she has kept all her learning buried. A bizarre mix-up involving an “exchange of brides” forcibly binds her to Zhao Wanqing, the Chancellor’s daughter. Zhao Wanqing goes from disdain and resistance, to shock and pain after learning the truth, to deciding to “reform” her wastrel husband, only to discover that she is a rough gem buried in dust. Zhao Wanqing wants Li Yanqi to take the imperial examinations to prove herself, but the more Li Yanqi reveals her talent, the more danger she faces: her identity as a woman is a ticking time bomb. The road to the examinations could be a ladder to success, or a path to total ruin.
