The Republic of China era was a turbulent time of upheaval and transition, the last holdout of feudal morality and the dawn of a new era.
Shen Qingtang was a stunning young lady raised by a fallen family in Jinling. For half her life, she had strictly adhered to women's virtues, meek and proper, with a childhood engagement binding her to a future she could not escape.
Her fiance, Fu Wenzhou, had returned from studying abroad with the fate of the nation in his heart.
He had already devoted himself to his country and could no longer give himself to her.
He rejected the marriage openly, unwilling to ruin the rest of her life. He personally tore away the veil of feudalism and told her that women were never men's appendages. They could be free and independent, too, and serve their country.
Fu Yanci, the youngest son of the Fu family, had been kept hidden away for years. Everyone said he was aloof and taciturn, a man who kept his distance from women.
But no one knew that when he first saw Shen Qingtang, with her gentle features and breathtaking beauty, greed began to grow wildly in his heart, and love blazed into an inferno.
She was a forbidden desire he could never touch, a dream forbidden by propriety, the one obsession he would carry for the rest of his life, hidden in the darkest depths of his heart.
The bonds of their respective positions loomed like mountains, while the world's gossip cut like blades.
He held himself back, biding his time at every step, concealing his madness and possessiveness. He could only protect her from the shadows, silently sweeping away every storm in her path, while surrendering to a torturous, consuming entanglement in corners unseen.
Old propriety bound her body and mind; a chaotic era forged her spirit.
Once, Shen Qingtang had regarded her husband as her whole world, confined to the narrow bounds of the inner chambers.
Later, she broke free of the shackles of propriety, shed the timidity of a sheltered young lady, crossed a land ravaged by war, and pursued her ideals for the nation. Amid the chaos, she became a blazing spark unlike any other.
The flames of war scorched the land, while love entwined their hearts.
A forbidden love spanning a turbulent era, an intensely restrained and tender entanglement.
He devoted the rest of his life to one person, and gave his passionate heart to defending the nation.
After enduring the flames, the old Tang blossomed anew and finally found her happy ending.
