At the end of the Dayong Dynasty, the imperial power fell away, the feudal vassals and towns were divided, and the undercurrents in the court and the rivers and lakes surged.
Shen Zhiwei, from a scholarly family in the south of the Yangtze River, was supposed to be an elegant woman studying ink in a boudoir, but because her father was involved in a rebellion, the whole family was imprisoned. In order to save her family, she took off her skirt and relied on her family's medical and mechanical skills to sneak into the undercurrent of the capital.
At the same time, Xiao Jin, who was stigmatized as a "traitor", lurked in the market, tracing the truth behind the annihilation of his family while secretly protecting those loyal and good people who were persecuted by powerful officials. He is as cold and hard as ice, but when he meets Shen Zhiwei by chance, he glimpses her tenacity under her fragile appearance - she dares to break into the tiger's den to save her father, and breaks the law to protect the innocent, just like a flower struggling to bloom from the ashes in the cold winter.
From testing each other to trusting each other, amidst the intrigues of the sword and the grudges of the rivers and lakes, the two gradually uncovered a shocking conspiracy spanning ten years: the rebellion was a cover for the powerful officials to seize power, the war in northern Xinjiang was a prelude to the vassal king forcing his way to the palace, and their family had already been a pawn on the chessboard destined to be sacrificed.
When the truth is revealed like peeling off a cocoon, there is imperial power in the front and old grudges in the back. Xiao Jin's path of revenge intertwines with Shen Zhiwei's wish to save his relatives, ultimately pointing to the same choice: Indulge in personal grudges, or raise swords and guns to protect this stormy river and mountains?
Above the ashes, hatred can breed, and flowers of protection can also bloom.
