In Taoyuan Village, a quiet, peaceful place where respect for seniority runs deep, Bai Nian is an orphan of just eighteen, yet holds the rank of a great-great-grandmother in the village hierarchy. One ordinary day, the wheels of fate begin mercilessly grinding her down. The Li family from beyond the mountain seeks a bride to bring good fortune to their gravely ill young master, Li Xuan, and sets its sights on Bai Nian, hoping to trade her entire life for his chance at survival.
Faced with this absurd and unjust arrangement, Bai Nian is meek but resolute in her resistance. Yet as an orphan with no one to stand up for her, she seems powerless to change the course of her tragic fate. Just as she falls into despair, a fox spirit who has cultivated for a hundred years appears in a graceful flutter, mysteriously entering her life. The fox spirit teaches Bai Nian wondrous arts, lighting a flame of hope that she might escape her plight.
Using the arts she has learned from the fox spirit, Bai Nian deftly handles the Li family's attempt to bring good fortune through a wedding, and succeeds in improving Li Xuan's condition. But the powers she displays cause an uproar in Taoyuan Village. Ignorant and afraid, the villagers see her as a demon bringing disaster and turn on her as one. The fox spirit appears once more to save the day, but at the same time, a band of mysterious men in black hear that Bai Nian possesses extraordinary powers and knows of a thousand-year-old lingzhi mushroom. They begin secretly watching the area around Taoyuan Village, intent on stealing the lingzhi for their own selfish ends, bringing an even graver crisis upon Bai Nian and the village.
Amid these layers of hardship, Bai Nian must protect the peace of Taoyuan Village and dispel the villagers' misunderstanding of her; outwit the mysterious men in black and protect herself and those around her; and confront the complicated feelings gradually growing between her and Li Xuan as she treats him. Watch how this young great-great-grandmother...
