During the Jingning period, Hu Jiuye, the general's daughter, encountered the prince Pei Xiakong who was traveling incognito by the river outside the city to escape the summer heat. The two men had a conflict. During the Chinese Valentine's Day Lantern Festival, the two met with the foreign prince Tian Nanxing while fighting for the river lantern. The three of them exchanged tokens, put out lanterns on the river, and each made a wish: Hu Jiuye wished that his family would be safe, Tian Nanxing wished that the people of the country could live in peace, and Pei Xiaku wished that the territory would be unified.
Returning home, he was greeted by an imperial edict to confiscate his family - Hu Jiuye's father was convicted of "killing court officials and robbing official silver". He had guarded the city gate, waiting for reinforcements to come, and was buried in the fire.
In the following years, the three of them had their own ups and downs. Hu Jiuye did not believe that his father was wronged, so he went south to make a living on his own, suffered all the hardships, and eventually became a military strategist; Tian Nanxing pretended to be crazy and acted like a fool as a hostage, but once escaped, he wanted to return to his motherland; Pei Xiakong was forced to go south to quell the chaos, and tempered the emperor's mental skills in the flames of war.
Reunited at the border, the three of them joined forces to fight, with unparalleled understanding and secret love. Hu Jiuye found out the truth: it was Pei Xiakong's father who killed his father back then. The hatred of killing his father was still in his heart. Pei Xiaku only said "put the country first, then the family", and Tiannanxing never left him.
In the end, Hu Jiuye chose Tiannanxing. All three of them got what they wanted, but each lost what they loved - some were sitting on the throne, some were living in seclusion, and some were protecting the country.
As you wish, it turns out that it is never perfect.
Intention: You finally got the one thing you wanted most, but you also lost the other thing. Are you willing to get it?