I, a Qing Dynasty Princess, Am a Fashion Icon

Coming soon: Give the People of Antiquity a Divine Maiden's Astonishment: From primitive wilderness to civilization, are you afraid to love me?

[Late Qing and Republican era * marriage first, love later * sweet romance]

Allow me to introduce myself:

I'm Dai Yuqiong, the first Qing princess to study abroad, and the Republican era's most popular fashion icon.

My husband, Qu Shutong, passed the imperial examinations as the top scholar but gave up officialdom to go into business. He's an industrial tycoon, yet buried in debt.

By day, the two of us are affectionate as we sweep through the marketplace together.

No one knows that once we're home at night, we split the money and then sleep in separate rooms...

*

Just as Dai Yuqiong returned from studying abroad, she was forced into marriage, and her betrothed was switched out for someone else.

It's only a marriage of convenience. Who cares whom she marries?

She can focus on her own little business: start a company, get in the papers,

and become the Republican era's hottest fashion icon.

As long as she spends a little spare time acting like a loving couple with Qu Shutong,

she'll have talent, beauty, wealth, fame, and a marriage. Everything.

Yuqiong's life is going splendidly, except for one thing:

The young childhood friend set to replace her as Mrs. Qu has already arrived, so where's the divorce agreement they promised her???

*

Qu Shutong is keeping a secret. Because of it, he had planned never to marry.

That is, until his teacher, with white hair at her temples, knelt before him and begged him to marry Yuqiong, respect her, and protect her.

Once the time was right, he would divorce her, and his teacher's request would be fulfilled.

Qu Shutong considered himself rational, calm, firm, and decisive. He had always known what he wanted and what he was doing.

But by day, he heard her call him "my husband," enjoyed her playful smiles, and watched her shine.

At night, alone beneath cold covers with no one beside him, he tossed and turned, increasingly restless and agitated.

There was one more troublesome thing:

Why had that young nobleman who was once Mrs. Qu's betrothed come back again???

Coming soon: Give the People of Antiquity a Divine Maiden's Astonishment: From primitive wilderness to civilization, are you afraid to love me?

Hua Yi, an ancient history enthusiast, transmigrated into a prehistoric society where people lived by hunting and gathering.

The Four Great Inventions, metallurgy and porcelain, acupuncture, architecture, poetry, and etiquette...

They were all far too advanced to help her at all.

Before her stood Si, a chieftain with overwhelming physical strength who believed hunting and eating meat could solve anything.

At her side was Huai, a clever but frail priest who used tortoise-shell divination all day to stop her from offending the gods.

A few days later, Yi, a very different sort of leader, arrived from upriver.

Wielding a bone knife, he asked her with a smile,

"I hear you're teaching them to farm. Interesting.

But do you know what happened to the last tribe that focused only on farming?"

Hua Yi grabbed Si with her left hand and supported Huai with her right.

She looked back at her starving people, then lit the first pottery kiln.

"Then let's see if this time we can grow a different ending."

Later, every tribe in the four directions knew there was a grand, beautiful city at the center of the continent.

Wheat fields rippled in the wind, goods were piled high as mountains, warriors were brave, and society was orderly.

Most important of all, the city was under the protection of the Divine Maiden Yi.

There was no war or hunger, no oppression or division.

To make it here was to have no regrets in life.

Much later, it would receive a new name:

Yandu.

The first royal capital of Huaxia.

Little skit:

Hua Yi (tapping on a wooden board): I hear a great nation is about to be born here?

Ancient people (eyes sparkling): What's a nation? Is it tasty?

Hua Yi: ...People of antiquity, open your eyes and prepare for a little taste of a divine maiden's astonishment.

Theme: Read ten thousand books and travel ten thousand miles