In the days around the change of era name to Jian'an, Song Pu welcomes Song Guo'er, a young woman of the Tuge people, back south to marry her. Passing through Anyi in Hedong, he meets Hedong youths such as Jia Kui and Pei Qian, and is drawn into the struggle in Anyi between the young emperor, Yuan Shao, the great families of the capital, and the local clans of Hedong.
