With Chinese rule growing intolerably exacting, and the policy of forcible assimilation into the Chinese mold, Thi Sách makes a stand against the Chinese.

The Chinese respond by executing Thi Sách as a warning to all those who contemplate rebellion.

His death spurs his wife Trung Trac to take up his cause and the flames of insurrection spread.

In 39, Trung Trac and her sister Trung Nhi, after successfully repelling a small Chinese unit from their village, assemble a large army, consisting mostly of women.

Within months, they have taken back many (about 65) citadels from the Chinese, and have liberated Nam Viet.

Becoming queens of the country, they manage to resist all Chinese attacks on Nam Viet for two years before the Chinese gather a huge expeditionary army to crush the native fighters.