This is a captivating story about the court secrets hidden behind the meeting of a talented scholar and a beautiful young woman. Shen Qingming, a scholar from a poor family, attends the Hantan Poetry Gathering, where he happens upon Lin Jingshu, the daughter of the Minister of Revenue. The two form a bond through music and calligraphy in a peach blossom grove. Lin Jingshu trades an imperial gold hairpin for Shen Qingming's copy of the Ode to the Goddess of the Luo River, and they fall for each other at their very first meeting.
Master Xuanji presides over the poetry gathering and hints at a court secret from thirty years ago. Shen Qingming discovers the Portrait of the Drunken Consort Dancing in a secret chamber in the Scripture Repository. The beauty in the painting bears a startling resemblance to Lin Jingshu, suggesting that she may be connected to the consort who was deposed thirty years ago. Their fates become entangled in an old court case, and the mystery begins to unfold.
