Meili, an ethnic Mongol from the grasslands of Inner Mongolia, is made a Heshuo Princess and meets Prince Jingxuan of Qing. They fall in love at first sight. If this had happened anywhere else, it would have been a happily-ever-after tale. But Meili and Jingxuan have fallen for each other in the wrong place: the imperial palace. Their relationship is entangled with the interests of far too many people, so a love that should have belonged to just the two of them is interfered with by others, especially Jingxuan's mother, the Grand Consort Dowager, who opposes them fiercely. Misunderstandings drive the pair further and further apart, setting them on a difficult road from which there is no return. Though they love each other, suspicion and a cruel twist of fate make them let go of hands they once held tightly. What they leave each other is a show of feigned strength and
