The Legend of Jiangling

My new novel, This Is a Culinary Mystery, begins on September 6, 2023.

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One of China's ten great merchant groups, the Longyou Merchant Guild became famous throughout the country for jewelry, land reclamation, papermaking, and printing, and also engaged in overseas trade. At its height in the middle of the Ming dynasty, it was said that "Longyou merchants are everywhere."

The Tong family led the Longyou Guild's jewelry and antiques trade, but in secret, the Jiang family held the real power. The origins of Jiang Jewelry were shrouded in mystery, yet it had stood for nearly a century and was quietly regarded as the greatest jewelry house in the land.

Then, in the thirty-fifth year of the Jiajing reign, a fire burned for three days, wiping out the entire Jiang family.

Ten years later, a young woman made a legendary return. With unstoppable force, she rebuilt Jiang Jewelry. The emperor summoned her, a princess came to visit, and the Embroidered Uniform Guard escorted her. The Jiang name rose to glory, with shops across both capitals and throughout the north and south.

From the age of seven to seventeen, from Zhejiang to Fujian and then to the two capitals, she went from being seen as a maid to a slave aboard a Japanese pirate ship, then to an honored guest of Qi Jiguang, who fought the pirates. From a lone orphan begging for a living, she became the owner of a nationwide jewelry business and a maritime tycoon with over a hundred ships.

She studied diligently, feared no death, and never gave up. With her intelligence and ability, she grew into a woman who controlled her own life.

She was the sole young lady of the great Ming dynasty's Jiang jewelry empire, surrounded by silks and brocades, with precious gems in her hands.

Theme: Her revenge, her growth, and her business empire