Synopsis
Shanghai in 1929 is a hellscape of gunfire and silk. Su Wan is the adopted daughter of Shen Xiaoting, a warlord in southern Jiangsu. With a gun in one hand and hidden sharpness in the other, she seeks only to live quietly amid her adoptive father’s schemes. But on a spring night in Tianlin, she becomes unexpectedly entangled with Lu Chengyao, a young gentleman from an eminent family who has entered a forbidden place. He has come to investigate the hijacking of his family’s cargo ship, while she conceals the truth to cover up the warlord’s influence. Their first encounter, with a sword at her throat, and the exchange of a handkerchief and a jade pendant become the prelude to their intertwined fates.
The Lu family’s industrial empire must be protected, the Shen family’s warlord power must be contested, danger lurks beneath the neon lights of the foreign concessions, and secrets are shrouded in the steam of the hot springs. She is the “warlord’s adopted daughter” everyone fears, yet she wants to remain an outsider in a chaotic age. He is the “young gentleman from an eminent family,” refined and courteous, yet he must harden his heart amid business wars and political machinations. When family grudges collide with turmoil engulfing the nation, and deliberate concealment meets heartfelt closeness, can they find a way through the chaos that lets them stay true to themselves and remain worthy of each other, despite their opposing sides?
