Emperor Ji Linche of the Great Jing holds dominion over a vast realm. Cold and aloof, he has no ties to anyone in the world.
By chance, he obtains a mysterious ancient treasure that lets him glimpse distant corners of the mortal world, including the wretched life of Shen Qiqi, a fallen daughter of a humble family.
Trapped in a poor household, she endures mistreatment and humiliation. She has no decent clothes or food, and her life is worth less than a weed.
Moved by compassion, the emperor uses the imperial treasury as his purse and the nation's fortune as his guide to watch over her from afar across time.
Fine clothes, warm meals, healing medicine, books, and quiet protection from misfortune: he carefully raises the little girl, step by step, as she struggles through the mire.
Separated by time, their years out of sync, he watches her grow with cool eyes, from a timid girl who hides her pain to a woman of striking beauty and steadfast character.
When their timelines finally converge and their lands fall into the same era, he searches far and wide, brings her into the palace, gives her the name Ji Shujin, and cherishes her as the only family he will ever need.
As turmoil rises in court and society condemns her, he uses his supreme imperial power to clear her path and personally teaches her the art of rulership, entrusting her with the affairs of state.
When she has blossomed and the realm is at peace, he takes off his imperial robes and gives her the entire empire.
Qiqi, once a girl in the mud, becomes Ji Shujin, an empress in her own right.
A purely familial story of raising a child, with no romance. The emperor devotes his whole life to raising her, protecting her, and giving her the world.
