I often remember old friends, now all grown old. I cherish my dreams, then wake in a daze, forgetting the road to Handan. (Wang Anshi)
Many years later, on Mount Cuiwei, Ye Lan still could not forget the day she first met Jiang Chuan. She was sixteen then, he was eighteen, and both were troubled by the concerns of youth.
The court's fortunes shifted like the wind. Just after Ye Lan was jilted, she had no time to grieve before a case of mistaken identities arose: Was the dead woman the bride? And why did the survivor insist that she was the bride?
War broke out, corruption in the army was exposed, the crown prince died in despair, and the princess had nowhere to turn with her grief. Ye Lan offered the princess a helping hand, even though she had stolen Ye Lan's fiancé.
Later, controversy over the crown prince's death sparked a struggle for the throne. Prince Liang fought for the crown, and Ye Lan became empress.
As for Jiang Chuan, who should have been no more than a chance passerby, he unexpectedly became her friend. Ye Lan knew he did not belong here and wanted to go home. They came to know and understand each other through hardship, and she helped him return to his homeland. But when the chance finally came, why did Jiang Chuan choose not to go back?
