[Republican Era + Romance + Mythology + Reborn + Resistance War]
In 1900, when the Eight-Nation Alliance invades Beijing, a princess from a royal household becomes separated from her family while fleeing. Taking the name Li Manyi, she seeks refuge with her maternal uncle, only to be sold. Her maid, Xing’er, risks her life to save her. While escaping, Li Manyi accidentally falls from a cliff and drifts down the Bailan River.
She is rescued by the Third Master of the Zhu family, who happens upon her while returning to Hexi Village. The two fall in love.
But fate has other plans. Before the Third Master of the Zhu family was even born, the Zhu family patriarch had arranged his betrothal to the daughter of the clan leader of Hedong Village.
For the sake of his family, Third Master Zhu has no choice but to obey his mother and marry the girl he was betrothed to before birth.
Li Manyi, too, can only yield to fate and marry someone else.
A year later, Li Manyi gives birth to a daughter, Chen Nanfeng. The family endures many hardships in Hexi Village.
When Chen Nanfeng is six, her father goes away on business and vanishes without a trace, leaving her and her widowed mother to face constant bullying.
At nine, Chen Nanfeng begins studying at the Zhu family school, where she is constantly at odds with the Zhu family’s children.
At twelve, her mother falls gravely ill. To save her, Chen Nanfeng volunteers to become the River Maiden, destined to be thrown into the Bailan River during the grand sacrificial ceremony in Hexi Village.
Can twelve-year-old Chen Nanfeng escape this calamity, be reborn with the help of the River God, or will even greater hardships await her?
What kind of life will Chen Nanfeng lead when she grows up?
To find out what happens next, read "Dressed in Splendid Robes and Armor, True to My Heart and True to You"
