[Dream of the Red Chamber] Daiyu Wants to Become an Official

[No Romance for the Female Lead, Dream of the Red Chamber Derivative]

Blurb:

Lin Daiyu joins the Censorate and is granted the right to execute first and report later. She investigates officials. Any who dare embezzle or break the law will end up as laborers at a quarry or headless corpses at the execution ground.

Wang Xifeng becomes an official in the Ministry of Justice and studies every kind of torture from China and abroad, ancient and modern. She vows to make those inhuman bastards regret ever being born into this world.

Xue Baochai joins the Ministry of Revenue and takes charge of the imperial court's coffers. Who would dare evade taxes? No chance. Once the abacus starts clicking, not a single copper coin will get away.

Jia Yingchun also sheds her timid nature and makes a name for herself in the Censorate. If there's anything rotten going on at home, it will be on the empress's desk the very next day.

Jia Tanchun no longer says things like, "If only I were a man." She enters the imperial court through her own talents and takes control of her own fate.

Women throughout the land also gain the chance to make a living on their own. Some go into business, others enter the imperial court. They are no longer confined to the inner quarters, dependent on others, and the practice of living off a wealthy widow's estate is gone, as is the chastity archway.

(Female lead's point of view)

That day, a world-changing upheaval took place.

A woman led an army to overthrow the corrupt dynasty and ascended the throne, becoming the first empress in the history of this world.

Lin Daiyu, a sheltered young lady who grew up carefree at her parents' side, had never truly questioned the unreasonable rules around her.

Though she resented the fact that her learning and literary talent, which were no worse than any man's, had to be hidden away in poems and essays, others still considered her reputation sullied if they saw them.

Then one day, the empress was welcomed through the capital's gates at the head of her army. From a private room in a restaurant, Lin Daiyu watched as the empress wore a dragon-and-phoenix ceremonial robe and imperial crown, flanked by female officials in court dress and female generals in armor.

From that moment, Lin Daiyu understood: women didn't have to be confined to secluded quarters. They, too, could shine brightly in the sunlight and speak boldly in court.

From then on, she and all the women in the world set out on a path utterly different from the fate they had once been assigned.

(The main story begins after the empress's enthronement. Dream of the Red Chamber alternate timeline.) No one is evil.

Theme: How can you know you won't succeed if you don't try?