While sorting through her grandmother's belongings, modern-day Su Qingyan touches an antique mirror decorated with phoenix patterns on both sides. An earthquake strikes, and she is sucked into the vortex inside the mirror. When she wakes, she finds herself in the body of Shen Weiwan, the illegitimate daughter of the Ministry of Rites in the Great Jing Dynasty, on her way to the palace to take part in the selection of imperial consorts. The original Shen Weiwan had taken poison and killed herself rather than enter the palace, and Su Qingyan has ended up in her body by a twist of fate.
