During the Yonghe period of Dajing, Su Qingtian, the general of the country, was accused of "collaboration with the enemy and treason" by Ning Wang Xiao Chen, and his entire family was executed. The legitimate daughter Su Lingyue managed to escape under the cover of her loyal servants. She stayed dormant for three years and returned to the capital under the pseudonym "Ling Yue", disguised as a man.
She entered Prince Jing's palace as a civilian staff member and won the trust of Prince Jing's eldest son, Xiao Jue, with her extraordinary strategy. The two formed an alliance - Su Lingyue provided wisdom and Xiao Jue provided power and position to jointly fight against the powerful King Ning. Su Lingyue successively wooed the Gu family, the richest man in the south of the Yangtze River, instigated a rebellion against Prince Ning's confidants, collected irrefutable evidence of Prince Ning's smuggling of salt and iron, and framed the Su family. Finally, the three cases were tried together in court, and Prince Ning was overthrown, bringing justice to the three hundred members of the Su family.
After King Ning's death, the emperor became seriously ill and the battle to establish the crown prince became intense. Su Lingyue helped Xiao Jue quell the Queen's palace coup and ascended the throne as emperor. She also transformed from a behind-the-scenes counselor to a virtuous queen. However, the King of Shu united with the remnants of the previous dynasty to rebel. Su Lingyue was ordered to defend Tongguan with 3,000 troops, burning the enemy's food and grass. He also made a surprise attack on Chengdu and went straight to Huanglong to put down the southwest rebellion.
After returning to the court, Su Lingyue implemented the "Ten Articles of the New Deal", rectified the administration of officials, reduced taxes, opened up new schools to recruit scholars, and jointly created the "Jueyue Prosperity" with Xiao Jue. Xiao Jue died of illness due to overwork. Su Lingyue assisted the young emperor Xiao Yu as the queen mother and taught him to become a good emperor. After Xiao Yu came to power, Su Lingyue retired and retired to the south of the Yangtze River, where she spent the rest of her life with Gu Yunshen, who was always by her side.
The whole play runs through a core proposition: How does a woman go from "being saved" to "saving others" in troubled times, from "revenge for her family" to "seeking peace for her country".
