Love and Schemes in a Turbulent Age

The Shadow of Fate: Chronicles of the Capital revolves around the Yang and Xibei families, two great clans in the capital.

The Yang family has earned distinction on the battlefield and enjoys great prestige, while the Xibei family is a commercial giant. Yang Yongsa and Xibei Haika were once friends, but a hunting accident drove a wedge between them. After Yang Yongsa fell from a cliff, the Yang family suspected the Xibei family of plotting against him, and tensions between them began to surface. Later, Xibei Haika married Su Yanmei, Yang Yongsa's wife, enraging the Yang family. The two great clans clashed relentlessly in politics and business, attacking one another as rumors spread among the people and tensions within each family grew.

When Yang Yongsa returned, matters became even more complicated. The tangled feelings among the three deepened the rift between the families. The Yang family continued to impeach the Xibei family at court and blockade its businesses, disrupting ordinary people's lives as well. As the feud intensified, the two families traded barbs in court and fought a fierce commercial war, damaging their reputations. Then Yang Yongsa discovered suspicious clues suggesting that a mysterious force had orchestrated the hunting accident.

As they investigated, they encountered one obstacle after another: attendants disappeared, villagers were threatened, and there seemed to be a mole within one of the families. Their relationships shifted subtly amid the danger, while Su Yanmei also spotted a suspicious figure among the noblewomen. As the investigation deepened, the clues seemed deliberately planted, suspicious figures emerged within the families, and trust began to break down. Su Yanmei also discovered that a secret about her origins was connected to the mysterious force, while the families' core interests came under attack. The force stepped up its interference and sowed chaos, plunging the situation into crisis and drawing neutral families into the conflict. Still, the protagonists refused to give up. They gradually traced the mysterious force to a court minister whose goal was to weaken both families and expand his own power.