How Did the Iron Lady Become Emperor?

[One-Line Synopsis: See how a clever, scheming iron lady conquers the world and wins herself a handsome husband]

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Blurb:

Liu Jinyu, a modern woman with an engineering background, unexpectedly transmigrates to Baoqing Prefecture in Huguang during the fourth year of the Chongzhen reign.

With no noble benefactors to help her, no System or golden finger, and a helpless burden by her side who couldn't hurt a fly, she's on her own.

Heaven doesn't love her, so she'll have to work hard for herself. She starts small, taking in a band of bandits as her underlings. Then she takes over a local magnate who harbors bandits and launders her reputation to join respectable society. Finally, she improves metallurgy, builds steel mills one after another, and makes a fortune. They call her the Iron Lady.

But how does using a little knife too many times turn it into a saber for cutting down horses?

She simply can't stand to see people suffering. Before she knows it, the Iron Lady has wiped out bandits, defeated roving rebels and government troops, and driven out the Tartars.

"What's going on? Why are my clothes yellow now, and why is there a dragon on them? How ugly. I don't like it... Hey! You insist on putting them on me? Then I suppose I'll wear them, Your Majesty."

She becomes an empress, and the burden from her past becomes her prime minister. Under her rule, the people are prosperous, the nation is strong, and the realm flourishes.

But she never expected that He Qijiao, the infuriating constable who used to pick fights with her and hunt for proof of her bandit past, would pop up again to demand to know what sort of relationship she has with her burdensome friend.

"What relationship? Of course we're best friends."

"What? He went into your bedroom?"

"What bedroom? I don't have a bedroom, just a thousand-mu mansion. I'm hiring guards at the moment. You seem suitable. You've been a constable, so you're qualified, and I'm quite pleased with you."

"Who'd want to be your watchdog... Hey, wait! I'll think about it..."

1. I'll do my best to research the historical details. If you notice any mistakes, please point them out and I'll correct them. If something seriously affects the plot and can't be changed, I'll add a note explaining it.

2. This story focuses on the heroine building her career. The male lead appears a little later.

3. The heroine and her childhood friend are purely platonic. There are no signs of secret crushes or romantic tension between them.

Here are some upcoming stories. If you're interested, come on in!

"I Wish to Become an Immortal": An ordinary mortal woman rises to become the supreme ruler of all realms.

Xiao Mingyue has no spiritual root. She's just an ordinary mortal.

When she is twelve, her father dies and her mother falls gravely ill. Her greedy aunt plans to sell her as a concubine to a wealthy family for ten taels of silver.

Unwilling to submit, she flees, only to be rescued by a strange Taoist.

He teaches her the art of cultivation. Those without spiritual roots can sense the spiritual energy of heaven and earth if they follow his method and enter a near-death state.

From then on, she walks the line between life and death. The Black and White Impermanence try countless times to claim her life, only to watch helplessly as she ascends to the highest heavens and becomes their...

Supreme Celestial Venerable Xuanqing!

"Fragrant Dreams Disturbed": An overworked office drone becomes a beggar in Nanyang, then joins the movement to overthrow the Qing and restore the Ming.

At the end of the seventeenth century, in Dongpu of Chenla, the southernmost edge of Chinese civilization.

The remnants of the Ming, whose dream of restoration had shattered, sailed there and worked for over twenty years to establish a patch of Han land.

Yang Mingkong, an overworked office drone from the twenty-first century, dies suddenly and transmigrates into the body of a young beggar in Dongpu.

Unwilling to starve to death, she decides to put her knowledge to use and become a spirit medium.

A bad medium dies, and so does a good one.

Chen Shangchuan, a Ming loyalist general in charge of Gaoleilian who serves the Nguyen lords of Guangnan and has been sent to develop Dongpu, says he'll roast her to test whether she's a real medium or a fraud.

She immediately drops to her knees, offers up her ill-gotten gains, and presents a plan for founding a state. At least she manages to save her own skin.

But then the old fox Chen Shangchuan makes her betroth herself to a child who hasn't even been born yet.

Isn't that just being raised to become someone's wife?

She won't do it... Of course she will!

As Chen Shangchuan's strategist and nephew's future wife, she's invested in the Chen family business, and she's willing to work like a beast of burden for them.

To the east, she joins forces with Binh Thuan to resist Guangnan. To the west, she allies with Ha Tien to swallow up Chenla. And overseas, she flirts with the Westerners... Who in all Nanyang hasn't heard of Yang the Little Zhuge?

Their territory keeps growing, and old Chen Shangchuan is clearly nearing the end. At last, her young fiance arrives in Dongpu.

On his deathbed, Chen Shangchuan shows unexpected kindness, telling Chen Ruichang to found a kingdom and make her queen.

Deeply moved, she vows to devote herself to the Chen family, drive out the Tartars, restore China, and one day bury his remains in his homeland, once it has returned to Han hands.

Chen Shangchuan passes away in peace, never imagining that the moment he closes his eyes, someone will show her true colors.

A queen?

Two rulers sharing the throne?

Absurd. There can't be two suns in the sky or two kings in one land!

Yang Mingkong will become the one and only emperor of the realm!

Theme: The floodwaters that sink the boat are the people's tears. A ruler will never understand until they overflow.