They first meet in a bamboo grove in Jiangnan. Jiang Ziran, a royal orphan, and Su Zhenzhu are betrothed as children, sealing their promise with a bracelet woven from bamboo. After her mother dies, Jiang Ziran takes the name Xiao Yu and enters the palace. He transforms amid court intrigue into a cold and formidable crown prince, spending ten years searching for the person he once loved.
After her family falls on hard times, Su Zhenzhu depends on her younger brother and lets the past fade. Xiao Yu returns in disguise as a traveling physician, and warmth begins to kindle between them. Then a struggle for the throne erupts, and his political enemies use her as leverage. To protect her, Xiao Yu is forced to slaughter her village, accidentally killing her brother in the process. Their old affection turns into a sea of blood and hatred.
Imprisoned in the imperial palace, she finds that her enemy is also her protector, and that the captive consort remains forever in his heart. The bamboo cord remains unbroken as love and hatred intertwine. What ending awaits this tragic romance, born in childhood and ensnared in political intrigue?
