To consolidate its rule, the royal house of the Central Plains sought an alliance with the neighboring Southern Barbarian Kingdom. But the Empress's clan had other plans: they overthrew the existing regime and put a prince on the throne. Princess An Luoye, who had been set to marry a Southern Barbarian envoy, was forced to bear the charge of plotting against the Emperor. She went into hiding and lived as a fugitive.
The new Emperor, An Ziqing, refused to form an alliance with the Southern Barbarian Kingdom and repeatedly waged war against it, drawing opposition from the Empress Dowager and her allies. An Ziqing had few concubines to begin with and no heirs at all, and he gradually lost his imperial power.
During a campaign against the Southern Barbarian Kingdom, An Ziqing was killed in an ambush by his own younger brother, An Zimu. With An Ziqing's death, An Zimu's regime emerged into the open.
Jing Nanke, daughter of the former dynasty's prime minister, entered the palace as one of An Ziqing's concubines. When An Zimu took power, she won his favor and remained in the palace.
After Meng Muxuan took office as prime minister, he was framed. His entire family was executed, with the exception of his second daughter, Meng Yuanying.
Jing Nanke became Consort Jing. After the Meng family was executed, she managed to save Meng Yuanying.
Under Consort Jing's arrangements, Meng Yuanying entered the palace as An Weiyi and was given the title of Princess.
But life in the palace was nothing like she had imagined. When Meng Yuanying's true identity was about to be exposed, Consort Jing sent her to the Peach Blossom Grove, where she lived in seclusion.
Five years later, Meng Yuanying returned to the palace, only to find that both the palace and the entire capital had become unrecognizable.
Su Jing, a general, forced Meng Yuanying to buy a lifetime of freedom with money, and allowed her to take one person with her.
Meng Yuanying took An Duoyu and her daughter, but died in the Peach Blossom Grove, becoming a speck of dust in the world
