After Disguising Myself as a Man, I Rose to the Highest Ranks

Du Qingtang was born to a farming family in the countryside. Her father died young, and to hold on to their few acres of poor land, her mother disguised her as a boy.

She planned every step carefully and schemed with painstaking care, yet her identity was still exposed, and she met a terrible end.

On the brink of death, Du Qingtang awakened memories of her modern life.

She remembered that men and women were equal in modern society, where women could study and even become officials.

Given another chance, Du Qingtang picked up her books and continued preparing for the imperial examinations.

Everyone said women were inferior to men, but she refused to accept her fate.

She was determined to be the pioneer who carved a path to success for all the women of the land!

*

In the sixteenth year of Qingyuan, Du Qingtang achieved the rare distinction of placing first in all six examinations and became the youngest top scholar in the Great Xia dynasty.

The following year, Du Qingtang revealed that she was a woman.

The officials rose up against her: "For a woman to enter government service violates the natural order of yin and yang. This woman has deceived the emperor and defied her superiors. She must be put to death!"

Condemned by countless people, Du Qingtang was demoted and sent to the northwestern frontier.

The frontier town was chaotic and lawless, filled with refugees. Murder and robbery were commonplace, and people died every day.

Everyone thought Du Qingtang would die there.

But the once insignificant border town eventually became the Northwest's most prosperous city and its largest taxpayer.

When foreign forces invaded, the women's army Du Qingtang had personally formed routed the enemy, achieving the miracle of six thousand defenders defeating an army of fifteen thousand.

When she left office, the local people presented Du Qingtang with a ceremonial parasol and built a shrine in her honor.

Du Qingtang turned the tables against all odds and won a stunning comeback.

She returned to the capital in glory, entered the grand council and took the high seat, aiding two emperors in ushering in a golden age and becoming history's first female Grand Chancellor!

*

The twenty-third year of Qingyuan would be unforgettable for the women of Great Xia.

That year, the court established schools for girls and allowed women to take the imperial examinations.

It was also the year countless women, undaunted by society's judgment, left their homes to study literature and martial arts.

Looking back, they did not regret their choices.

Books had shown them another possible future.

They were no longer anonymous women whose names were reduced to "so-and-so's wife." They became officials wielding influence in the court and generals riding into battle to slay the enemy.

They, too, could be recorded in the annals of history and remembered for generations.

"Grand Chancellor Du sent me a tailwind. I'll ride it straight up ninety thousand miles!"

[Reading Guide]

1. The heroine disguises herself as a man to take the imperial examinations early in the story, then resumes her female identity and becomes an official later on.

2. The heroine will neither marry nor have children.

Theme: Women are every bit as capable as men