Five years after Dachang established its capital, Emperor Hong is incompetent and corrupt eunuchs hold power. Feng Ying and Gu Yan flee famine with their parents, but their parents die along the way, leaving their children their only hope of survival.
Feng Ying and Gu Yan end up homeless on the streets, until Wushuang Court takes them in. They become Wushuang courtesans and take the names Ying Ge and Yan Wu.
At Wushuang Court, the sisters witness men's heartlessness, greed, hypocrisy, and betrayal. The sisters go from standing by one another to falling apart. Yan Wu plunges into a living hell, and Ying Ge rises up to save her. In saving Yan Wu, she also saves Dachang, which teeters on the brink of collapse.
