Zhou Wanzhi, an inheritor of Yao embroidery, transmigrated and became an orphaned farm girl.
Her home was bare, she had no one to rely on, a local thug was waiting to take her as his concubine, and her unscrupulous uncle and aunt were plotting to take everything she had.
Zhou Wanzhi: "..."
What kind of disastrous start is this?!
Luckily, she had extraordinary Yao embroidery skills. As long as she had a needle and thread, she would never go hungry.
She got straight to work. That very night, Zhou Wanzhi bound herself to the Yao Embroidery System, grabbed a beggar and forced him to marry her, then tricked her uncle and aunt and fled with her bedding to open an embroidery shop in town.
Zhou Wanzhi's embroidery was exquisite. Delicate battlement patterns, beautiful octagonal flowers, spirals, fish, waves... They adorned the dresses of the runway models like dazzling blossoms. Yao embroidery became all the rage throughout Jingnan, and every woman took pride in wearing a full outfit of it.
Yao embroidery takes too long to mass-produce? No problem, the System speeds up the stitching. Finishing a piece overnight is no dream!
The quality of Yao embroidery for export is slipping? No problem, the System can make high-quality copies. Filling a warehouse in a day is no big deal!
She entered the Splendid Garments Competition and stood out among the luxurious brocades of the capital with an embroidered feathered robe inspired by the Yao people's Panwang Festival, winning the gold medal.
She launched Yao embroidery classes, waiving tuition and fees to help local women leave their homes, stand tall, and gain a say in their own finances.
Thanks to Zhou Wanzhi's unrelenting efforts, this craft, which had nearly declined alongside the Yao people, took root and blossomed throughout the state of Qi, paving a crucial path for future developments and innovations in the arts.
The landlord who once tried to force her into marriage now begged her for help as his household fell into decline. The merchant houses that once shunned her now found it impossible to get a place in her Yao embroidery franchise.
And now, Zhou Wanzhi stood before the Hall of Supreme Harmony, dressed in Panwang finery, wearing twelve golden hairpins, and holding a solid-gold Pixiu seal. She was being appointed the first imperial merchant in the history of Qi.
But wait, why does the man on the Dragon Throne look so much like her cheap fake husband who had left without a word?
At the Yanshan Banquet in the imperial palace of Shengjing.
Facing the emperor who had summoned her alone, Zhou Wanzhi felt incredibly uneasy.
She was guilty. She shouldn't have made the emperor work for her without pay, let alone docked his wages. And she shouldn't have thrown his letter in a box and left it on read out of spite.
Zhou Wanzhi gritted her teeth. "This commoner is guilty!"
Yun Tan spoke at the same time. "I know I was wrong."
Yun Tan: "I... I'll do better. It was my fault for leaving without a word. My empress, please don't be angry. You can dock my wages, just don't ignore me, okay?"
Zhou Wanzhi's brain short-circuited.
So you don't have to pay wages once you're empress?
What a deal!
Theme: The trends of ethnic cultures are the trends of the world
