Twenty years ago, Chu Qiu escaped from the palace with her nursing infant, Su Jin. Now grown, Su Jin has become an extraordinarily beautiful and talented young man. He falls in love at first sight with Duan Qianyi, a leader of the literary world. But a sweeping upheaval at court shakes the foundations of their love. Regent Pei Chang lays siege to Nanjing, and the Southern Ming dynasty falls apart, its people fleeing in all directions. Unwilling to let the common people suffer, Duan Qianyi hands over Jinling without a fight. Victorious, Pei Chang enters the city in high spirits. He places Su Jin under house arrest and urges him to submit, but Su Jin's remarkable courage and intelligence earn Pei Chang's respect and teach him a simple truth: the human heart cannot be conquered by force...
