The Legitimate Daughter Returns, Hiding Her Blade Behind a Delicate Façade

The story centers on the third daughter of the Li family. At birth, a fortune-teller branded her an ill omen, and rumors that she would bring misfortune to her relatives led her father, Li Yanzhi, to abandon her in the countryside. After seventeen years of abuse at the hands of her adoptive parents, she returns to the family estate to seek revenge. On her first return to the Zhuang household, she disguises herself as a frail and helpless girl, uses her keen intelligence to plan each move, and even identifies a killer by means of a lychee pit, drawing the attention of a constable of the Embroidered Uniform Guard investigating a murder.

Fu Yecheng suffers from a strange illness and wants to find a trustworthy wife to whom he can entrust his family and friends. He proposes a marriage alliance to Li Ruoheng, and the two become partners in pursuit of their own interests. As Zhuang Hanyan pursues revenge, she gradually uncovers the truth behind her birth mother Ling Shuangxue's supposed madness: Li Yanzhi deliberately imprisoned her to cover up his crimes against the Ling family and seize power for himself. Mother and daughter go from misunderstanding each other to joining forces, only to be brutally murdered by Li Yanzhi.

In their grief, Li Ruoheng and Fu Yecheng move from wariness to deep love. Joining forces with Auntie Zhou and others, they endure trials that bring them close to death and ultimately expose Li Yanzhi's conspiracy to collude with Prince Qi and abuse his power. In the end, Li Yanzhi is abandoned by everyone. Li Ruoheng avenges herself and reunites with the recovered Fu Yecheng, finding warmth in family once more.