- Era background: In the middle and late Northern Song Dynasty (from Renzong to Yingzong), there were frequent border frictions and undercurrents of factionalism in the court. Yugu City in the south of the Yangtze River was an important water transport town connecting the north and the south. The city lord held real military and political power, and his status was delicate.
- Female protagonist: Su Qingyan (18-22 years old), the daughter of a declining scholarly family in Bianjing. Her father died of illness after being convicted of the "Literary Prison". She took her mother to avoid trouble in Yucheng, and wrote the food diary "Human Taste" under the pen name of "Yanniang" (recording the food in the market and the human feelings behind it), secretly collecting clues about her father's injustice. At the same time, she studied poetry intensively, and her writing style was elegant but hidden. She occasionally stood out at teahouse poetry gatherings. She has a soft personality on the outside and is tough on the inside. She seems to be happy-go-lucky, but in fact she has deep obsessions. Food and poetry are her armor and weakness.
- Male protagonist: Xiao Che (25-29 years old), the lord of Yugu City. He was born as a general but was not his legitimate son. He ruled Yucheng by virtue of his military exploits. He appears to be cold and taciturn and has ruthless methods (known as "Xiao Yanluo"). In fact, he is burdened with an old family case (his brother's death in battle is suspected) and secretly fights against the forces in the DPRK that frame him. Both longing for and resisting "warmth", he was attracted by Su Qingyan's pyrotechnics and the loneliness in his poems, but he did not dare to get close because of his identity and conspiracy.
