In the parallel world of the Great Qing, Yang Hao, the second son of a general's household, killed the Xiongnu, only to be framed. His troops suffered a crushing defeat, with countless soldiers killed and wounded. The Great Qing emperor flew into a rage and threw Yang Hao in prison. Fearing he would implicate the general's household, Yang Hao severed ties with General Hu and declared that he had been cast out of the family. On the day the household was confiscated, his younger brother was only thirteen. He and their mother were exiled to the bitterly cold northern frontier, and no one knows whether they are alive or dead.
After months in prison, someone broke his limbs. Later, the Great Qing emperor took pity on him and demoted him to commoner status, making him a slave to be auctioned off. He endured deep torment in prison and endless humiliation at the auction. When no one bid on him, he was left on the street and sold like an animal. For five taels of silver, the kindhearted but poor Madam Zhou (Zhou Mengyue) bought him and carried him back to her destitute home. Zhou Mengyue was originally the daughter of an official, but she had concealed her identity. After an argument with her father over his marriage, she ran away from home. Over the years, she had taken in three orphans and treated them as her own children. Why did she spend her entire fortune, five taels of silver, to buy Yang Hao? Years earlier, when Zhou Mengyue ran away, bandits had attacked her, and she was rescued by Yang Hao, the general's second son. She had grown fond of him. Why not save him first, then offer herself to him and make him her husband?
