Hong Shi was the daughter of a great general in Northern Wei in her previous life. After placing her faith in the false affection between her half-sister and her fiance, her family was destroyed and she died wrongfully accused. Reborn at fifteen, she returns to the crucial turning point in her family's fate. Drawing on her memories of her previous life, Hong Shi transforms from an innocent young lady into a calculating "black lotus." Using her advantage in knowing what is to come, she strikes first and exposes her half-sister and fiance's scheme, averting disaster for her family. But that is only her first step in a time of chaos. The Northern Wei dynasty is rotten, powerful aristocratic clans monopolize the government, and common-born scholars are treated like weeds. Disguised as a man and taking her brother's identity, Hong Shi joins the army and hones her military strategy amid mountains of corpses and seas of blood. She must not only take revenge on her enemies from her previous life, but also challenge this corrupt world. As she makes a name for herself on the battlefield, she faces the danger of her identity being exposed, along with entanglements with two very different men: one is the loyal general she failed to win in her previous life, and the other is a prince of an enemy kingdom who has fallen for her. Hong Shi must choose between revenge, her country, and love. In the end, as a woman in a world ruled by men, she will shake the realm and make the lofty aristocratic clans tremble.
Theme: Northern Wei society was divided into four classes: aristocrats, common-born people, commoners, and slaves. Aristocratic clans monopolized power through marriage alliances and official appointments, while talented people of humble birth found it difficult to rise. Factional struggles raged within the court, while powerful enemies surrounded the realm from without.
