[Honest, sweet, and beautiful top scorer * Scheming, sinister, rotten-to-the-core powerful official]
Lin Ruoyu, a woman disguised as a man, is the third-place winner in the imperial examinations. She has secretly loved Jiang Xu, the top scorer of her cohort, for years.
But Jiang Xu is devoted to power and intends to marry into a minister's family. He has long known that Lin Ruoyu is a woman, and her family's low status puts her beyond consideration. He takes all her care and assistance as flattery and sycophancy, accepting it without question.
Lin Ruoyu gathers the courage to confess her love, and is rejected without mercy, just as she expected.
Heartbroken, Lin Ruoyu decides to help Jiang Xu one last time before resigning from office. She gets involved in a factional struggle and offends Jiang Xu's political enemy, Prince Chen Xiao Hai.
Prince Chen is ruthless. He never expected to be outmaneuvered by Lin Ruoyu, and has held a grudge against her ever since.
Lin Ruoyu intends to resign and retire from public life, but on the eve of her resignation, she is framed and thrown into prison, then exiled to the border.
Jiang Xu knows the whole story, but is afraid of being implicated and never says a word in her defense.
Lin Ruoyu thinks she will spend the rest of her life in obscurity at the border. But halfway through the journey, she is kidnapped by bandits.
In the dim dungeon, the sinister, powerful official smiles coldly:
"Long time no see, Top Scorer Lin."
Jiang Xu had always considered Lin Ruoyu's attentions a nuisance. She was not his equal. She had won third place on the strength of her looks, then offended ministers through her recklessness. With her humble family background, she was no candidate to be his principal wife.
But after he marries the woman he wants from a great family, he often finds, in the quiet of the night, that the person beside him doesn't measure up to Lin Ruoyu.
So he decides to give Lin Ruoyu a chance. He can secretly arrange for her to fake her death, then keep her as a concubine.
But when Lin Ruoyu returns to the capital after earning merit, Prince Chen is constantly at her side.
At a palace banquet, Jiang Xu sees Prince Chen cradling a drunken Lin Ruoyu as if she were a precious treasure. His fists clench inside his sleeves, his nails digging into his palms, but he doesn't notice.
Prince Chen discovers that Lin Ruoyu is a woman disguised as a man. He is domineering and possessive, and the two agree to go their separate ways once they return to the capital.
She thinks everything will go back to normal.
Until one night, she opens the door to find Prince Chen's icy face. He reaches up to undo his collar and pins her in the narrow space between them.
"You looked at Jiang Xu twice today. That means two extra hours tonight."
* The male lead is not a virgin
* Forced possession and conquest, melodramatic angst
# The male lead is a mad dog who rises to power; the second male lead gets his comeuppance
Theme: Keep striving to live
