Three Years Until the Jingkang Captivity

Zhao Shimiao transmigrated to Bianjing, the Northern Song capital, and became a marginal member of the imperial clan, so obscure her name was barely recorded in the genealogy.

Other people transmigrate to find love. She transmigrated to escape with her life.

In the second year of the Jingkang era, the women of the imperial clan were rounded up and sent to the Jin. On the way, some died, some were abused, and those who survived became slaves, at the mercy of others.

She had only three years before Bianjing fell and she was captured.

Worse still, her family's empty shell was holding her back.

She had no dowry. Her allowance was spent on keeping up appearances. Her family was desperately poor, and they were counting on selling her for a good price.

She had to learn music, chess, calligraphy, and painting to keep up appearances;

raise chickens and grow vegetables to cut costs;

master needlework to earn money;

and know how to pickle vegetables and brew wine so nothing went to waste.

If not for the need to keep her hands busy, washing her little brother's diapers would have been her job, too.

Even the savings Zhao Shimiao had painstakingly put aside were seized by her parents.

She wasn't staying in this wretched home.

In this world, it was harder than reaching the heavens for a woman to travel alone. Before the Jingkang calamity arrived, she had to find a man willing to marry her, who wanted no dowry, and who would take her and her younger sister away from Bianjing.

She would marry on her own terms, with her head held high.

[Reader's Guide]

1. The heroine transmigrates with an all-knowing perspective. She's clear-headed and rational, with a firm goal: make money, get married, and escape.

2. Timeline: Begins in the fifth year of the Xuanhe era (1123). Bianjing falls in 1126, and the northward journey begins at the start of 1127.

3. Business plot: wild silkworm silk, weave cloth and save money, escape, then head south to work on infrastructure.

4. Romance plot: Between "finding someone to rely on" and "finding love," the heroine ultimately discovers a way to have both.

5. The sisters are deeply devoted to each other. The younger sister is the heroine's most important tie and helper.

6. Historical details will be researched as carefully as possible. There are indeed records of folk production of wild silkworm silk (tussah silk) during the Song dynasty.

7. The early part is oppressive but not frustrating, the middle brings a comeback, the later part is sweet and satisfying, and it has a happy ending.

Theme: Hard work brings prosperity.