Shen Qingci, the legitimate daughter of the Hou family, was framed by her stepmother as a child and sent to the countryside to be raised in Zhuangzi. Ten years later, the Hou Mansion needed her to come back for marriage, and Shen Qingci was able to return. Shen Qingci's stepmother and concubine wanted her to marry the old prince, but Shen Qingci refused to comply. She used her resourcefulness to regain the dowry left by her mother, and also helped her father resolve the crisis in the court (the stepmother colluded with her husband to frame her father). In the process, Shen Qingci met the upright general Xiao Yan, and the two supported each other. Eventually, Shen Qingci gained a foothold in the Hou Mansion and married Xiao Yan.
