Lin Zhi, a modern-day architecture student and notorious overachiever, worked late into the night drawing blueprints and died of exhaustion. She then became a princess with the same name, a disposable character in an old-fashioned tragic romance novel.
The original Lin Zhi had the title of princess, but her mother's family had fallen from power, so she was sent to the most barren fiefdom: Loess Slope. The fiefdom had nothing but sand and rocks, and even the rebels couldn't be bothered to attack it.
In the original story, the princess tried to return to the capital and win favor. She extorted the people to build a palace, only to be stoned to death by an uprising of refugees.
When Lin Zhi arrived, faced with a landscape of utter desolation, she calmly took out her "transmigration golden finger": a physical copy of A Practical Guide to New Rural Development and Vernacular Architecture from her university library.
She had no desire to return to the palace intrigues. She only wanted to fulfill her dreams at Loess Slope: build ergonomic cave dwellings, put in a drainage system, and turn the place into an ancient version of a "model village for new rural development."
So, while the princes and princesses in the capital were busy with "imperial exam fraud," "poisoning the imperial concubine," and "framing their siblings," Loess Slope sent its first memorial: "Reporting to Your Majesty, your daughter dug up a three-bedroom apartment today."
The court was shaken. They thought it must be some ancient relic.
While the princes were battling for the throne and dominating the headlines in the court gazette, an urgent report came from the border: "Your Majesty! The Third Princess built a road on the frontier! The enemy cavalry slipped right into our trap!"
The emperor looked at the piles of blueprints before him and the miniature model of a "New City at Loess Slope," and fell silent.
He looked at the ministers below, still arguing over whether the eldest or second prince should inherit the throne, and slammed his hand on the table.
"Enough arguing! I think the throne should go to someone who knows how to build houses!"
