In the year Dingyou, 1657, a wrongful examination fraud case turned her overnight from a young lady of a distinguished family into the daughter of a convicted official.
A treasured heirloom, the famous zither Moonlit Jade, brought about the marriage between her mother and her stepfather, Yu Qi, and also set in motion another disaster that would destroy a family and claim lives.
In the early years of the Kangxi reign, the shocking Ming History Case swept across Jiangnan. Her stepfather, Yu Qi, was sentenced to death by strangulation, and his family was confiscated and enslaved. Her stepfather secretly switched her with someone else, making her a scapegoat. With chains locked around her feet, she was forced onto the road to the capital.
From a wealthy young lady whose mother had remarried, to a convict's family member in shackles; from a palace maid who had to tread carefully at every step, to the concubine of Nalan Rongruo, the greatest literary talent of the early Qing; from a young widow of the Upper Three Banners, to a first-rank titled lady who lost her son in middle age.
From having nothing, to experiencing every worldly luxury, and then back to having nothing: how did the curse of the treasured zither Moonlit Jade become a harbinger of doom that destroyed four powerful, distinguished families? What heartbreaking story lies behind this most legendary woman of the Nalan family?
