Everyone says the long-lost youngest daughter of the Marquis of Yongning is gentle and composed, with a character as pure as jade.
No one knows that this precious branch of the family is a fake, fashioned out of mud and weeds.
Years ago, on a desolate road in Huaibei, a noble girl near death begged Su Qi for half a cold bun, promising her a lifetime of wealth and glory.
Su Qi accepted the deal and protected her all the way.
But fate brought them to a dead end, and the noble girl was ultimately buried in the wild grass.
One night, a sudden downpour mingled with frost, covering the girl's bones.
Su Qi wiped the yellow earth from her fingers and picked up the token.
From then on, the wandering girl Su Qi ceased to exist in this world.
Using the dead girl's identity, she turned her muddy bones into a gilded branch.
The Marquis's wife feared that her long-lost youngest daughter would be looked down on in the capital. She sought help from her old friend, Madam Zheng, and arranged for the powerful minister Zheng Huan to take her as his sworn younger sister, so that the Zheng family's influence would protect her.
At their first meeting, Su Qi almost thought they had been reunited by fate.
Through years of hardship and grime, Su Qi had become numb and cold, yet there was one face she alone remembered.
The man's features belonged to the benefactor who had once saved her when she was young.
Carrying that fixation with her, she deliberately acted meek and drew closer to him, step by step.
But the more they interacted, the more uneasy she became:
Zheng Huan's eyes held a sharpness that seemed to see through everything.
The thrill of longing for that familiar face could not outweigh her fear of being exposed as a fraud.
In a panic, she retreated, wanting only to refuse the sworn-sibling arrangement and leave far behind.
But in Zheng Huan's eyes, her strange behavior, first deliberately attaching herself to him and then fleeing in panic, was proof of her guilt.
He was convinced she had harmed the real heiress, stolen her identity, and planned to use the Zheng family to whitewash her past.
He kept his thoughts hidden, scrutinizing her with gentle eyes and attacking her heart at every turn.
Only much later, when the true benefactor who had saved her all those years ago appeared, did Su Qi finally understand.
The stunned gaze she had given Zheng Huan at their first meeting had never been meant for him.
And Zheng Huan learned too late:
The woman he had judged for so long may have approached him at first only because she mistook him for someone else based on his looks.
Theme: The world is perilous, but kind hearts endure.
