By imperial decree, the laziest prince in the capital is banished to the barren lands of Huangzhou, with an unwanted farm girl thrown in for good measure.
The entire court waits for them to starve.
Three years later, Huangzhou’s granaries are full, its trade routes thriving, and its people prosperous. They can even eat fresh greens in winter.
Shen Qinghe understands farming, knows her way around a ledger, and is even better at turning simple methods into profitable businesses: waterwheels to irrigate fields, greenhouses to grow vegetables, workshops to make sugar, and brick kilns to pave roads.
Xiao Chengyan spends his time cockfighting and walking his dogs, but he shields her from local tyrants, purges corrupt officials, and spoils his princess consort beyond all reason.
Then the court raises taxes and seizes their grain, accusing him of rebellion. A hundred thousand people gather outside the prince’s residence, calling on him to raise an army.
Xiao Chengyan still asks lazily, “My princess, should we rebel or not?”
She has only just said no when an urgent dispatch arrives from the border, bearing a bloodstained letter.
The emperor has never truly feared the idle prince. It is the identity she has hidden for years that he fears...
