Xie Zhao carries a secret buried for twenty years. In public, she is the pampered legitimate son of the Marquis’s household and the young marquis who commands Tianqi’s most powerful army. In private, she is the most prized female disciple of a lineage of poison doctors.
An Lan, a hostage sent from Northern Qi to Tianqi, appears useless and harmless, but secretly wields power and is shrewd and calculating.
Xie Yan was an overlooked illegitimate son of the marquis’s household until he accidentally uncovered a shocking secret, turning his fate around forever.
After her parents died, Gu Qingci came to the capital carrying her mother’s keepsake, intending to seek refuge with relatives. By a twist of fate, she ended up in the marquis’s deep and sprawling estate.
Tianqi appears peaceful, but under the surface, currents run strong. The princes and princesses scheme against one another, while factions openly or secretly choose sides. The situation is on the verge of exploding.
With command of the strongest military forces, Xie Zhao becomes the person everyone is desperate to win over, but she only wants to keep out of the conflict and protect herself.
When the “sweet on the outside, ruthless within” young marquis crosses paths with Prince An, who likes to play the pig to eat the tiger, the two who once stood at odds begin to understand each other and fall in love after seeing through one another’s masks.
Xie Yan, who had always been ignored, sees the light of day again because of her and secretly vows to be her most loyal servant for life.
And Gu Qingci, timid by nature and prone to stammering whenever she speaks to anyone, is treated as an equal by her for the first time. She resolves to sharpen her tongue and repay the kindness with her sharp words.
The court is swept by shifting tides, while the marquis’s household is in utter chaos.
In a world where self-interest reigns and people’s hearts are cold, can love, family, and friendship be given new meaning?
Can these young people, whose hearts still burn bright, find their way out of the maelstrom and break the shackles of fate through their own strength? Can they escape fate’s prison and reach their own bright shores?
