The tangled relationships between Nangong Rou, Xiao Wenzhi, and Wen Xinglan show the choices involved in pursuing love while holding on to family ties. They also reflect the struggles to rise to power in pursuit of status, influence, and gain.
Nangong Rou: Sixteen years old, a pure and lovely girl with a kind heart. Her mother taught her how to behave, then suddenly disappeared one day. Rou believes her mother will return, and keeps waiting, enduring all the mistreatment and insults she faces at home. Her two older sisters have bullied her since childhood and never treated her as family, leaving her with a constant sense of estrangement from her own relatives. Her unusual upbringing has given her an open-minded outlook and a keen eye for people.
Xiao Wenzhi: Twenty-four years old, a prince and the most trusted man of the current emperor. He encounters Nangong Rou by chance twice and becomes curious about everything concerning her. She plants a seed in his heart, but good things do not come easily. The deeper his love for her grows, the more he hurts her. As he investigates her identity further, what he uncovers only makes it harder for him to let her go. What should he decide?
Wen Xinglan: Twenty-six years old, the Grand Tutor and the youngest ever to hold the position. He fell in love with Nangong Rou when they were children. He sees the Nangong family bully her, and also sees how the Holy Maiden raised and taught her. He is willing to pay any price, even his life, to keep Nangong Rou from being caught up in the grudges of the previous generation and becoming a sacrifice to his aunt's revenge.
The mysterious master, the Holy Maiden: She is the mistress of Snow Shadow Palace, one of the most mysterious sects in the martial world. No one knows what its mistress looks like or even where the palace is. There are many different accounts of its location.
