Shen Meizhuang, a consort of the Yongzheng Emperor of the Great Qing, dies from severe bleeding during a difficult birth. But it is not her fate to die: Xiao Shi, a eunuch from Suiyu Pavilion who has long admired her, saves her. After many twists and turns, she manages to leave the palace alive!
After Shen Meizhuang leaves the palace, Xiao Shi settles her outside the walls of the Forbidden City.
Two years later, the emperor learns that Xiao Shi’s father was the adopted son of Shi Lang, a great naval general of the previous dynasty. The court therefore grants Xiao Shi land, a residence, and an allowance, and permits him to leave the palace and return to his hometown of Suzhou!
Xiao Shi takes Shen Meizhuang to settle in Suzhou. By a twist of fate, she and Shen Buyi, a poor scholar, fall in love...
