A Qing-Era Tale: The Fourth Prince's Concubine Flees

Qian Lanlan woke up in the Kangxi era, in a China that was still largely closed off from the world.

Still half dazed and confused, she was jolted awake by a bloody incident. She swiftly dealt with the domineering Nian family, and Yin Zhen assigned her a place at Mu Miao Garden.

Because she had Han Chinese status, she couldn't buy a house or even rent a room. She'd even be extorted for five hundred taels just to enter a brothel... Unbelievable. This was the worst of times.

Yet even in the worst of times, she caught the best of breaks: she met an open-minded old emperor.

She brought dried lychees and longans from Lingnan, along with raisins and dried grapes from the desert, all the way to the capital to present to the old emperor.

The emperor was so delighted that she received a generous reward. She used it to build a large ship and sail to the Red Sea coast of Africa...

She opened up routes on both land and sea!

A semi-closed society was transformed into an almost fully open one!

The story has a romantic pairing, but the love interest dies later!

The protagonist levels up by defeating one challenge after another:

When remnants of the Southern Ming spread writing meant to undermine public morale, she used her silver tongue to win over a band of miscreants, and Kangxi granted her a prestigious Manchu surname. When chaos erupted in Little Ryukyu, she fought brilliantly, and Kangxi granted her a yellow riding jacket. When the Jungar Mongols rebelled, she blew them to pieces, and Kangxi gave her a death-exemption plaque and permission to ride through the imperial city.

On the day Kangxi died, she wore her yellow riding jacket, her death-exemption plaque at her waist, and galloped through the imperial city on her fine steed. Behind her were thousands upon thousands of troops, and before her stood Yongzheng, an emperor for the ages...