Guo Luo, granddaughter of Guo Chong, Military Commissioner of Xihe, has favored martial arts since childhood, unlike her older sister Guo Ke. When Guo Luo reaches the age of fifteen, her sister dies of illness, leaving Guo Luo the only legitimate daughter in the household. Her parents hope to raise her into an accomplished, refined lady. At the age of fifteen, she is chosen by the Empress Dowager to become the emperor's consort and then empress. The new emperor dislikes her, and as they spend their days together, his aversion only grows. In the fifth year of Yonghe, the empress is deposed. Guo Luo is eighteen and given the name Qingwu, then sent to Chaoyun Temple to practice as a lay Buddhist. Far from the imperial palace, with the breeze for company and the moon for friend, Guo Luo begins another kind of life.
