The land of Xiling is blanketed in yellow sand and dotted with dead trees. Drought lasts all year. After another three years without rain, just as the ruler of Xiling prepares for the worst, Jiang Ruishui arrives. Like an act of divine mercy, the newborn girl's first cry is followed by a downpour, and Xiling finally sees rain again.
“My lord, the princess was born when auspicious rain fell, and the Rain God welcomed her arrival. This is a sign of good fortune.”
So they name her Ruishui. In ancient times, people explained extraordinary events through the supernatural, and this only deepens their faith in the gods. She prays for blessings year after year, yet still cannot win a favorable omen for Xiling.
When Jiang Ruishui comes of age, Xiling is teetering on the brink of collapse. The Mo dynasty eyes them hungrily and presses closer with every step. Just as the kingdom nears its end, the enemy proposes a truce through marriage, all because of the water-ore forest.
Mo Lingzhi is a very strange person: sharp-tongued and arrogant. Though he is the Mo dynasty's seventh prince, he has neither power nor responsibilities, and spends his days wandering out of the palace. But in the depths of this palace, he is the only one who treats her well. He secretly takes her outside, to hang Buddha bells on a mountaintop and watch seven-colored koi from Moon Bridge...
But there is no such thing as simplicity in the palace. Everyone is merely hiding their cunning. In this game of chess, she can either suffer just as he does, or die.
Later, Jiang Ruishui finds herself wondering whether meeting Mo Lingzhi was a stroke of luck. But they are the same kind of person. He and she both live in an abyss under countless watchful eyes. They refuse to surrender to reality, shouting that they alone command their fate, yet remain forever bound by chains.
She says, “Our loyalties lie on opposite sides, so I will hate him forever.”
And he says, “There are too many things in the palace that are beyond our control. You have to look with your heart.”
The bamboo is lovely and the waters wind around the official tombs; following the great river, they meet again. He and she are both trapped in the palace for the rest of their lives.
