In the early years of the Kaiyuan era of the Tang dynasty, Li Longji ascended the throne. Having just put down Empress Wei's rebellion, he faced undercurrents of intrigue at court. Years earlier, a secret incident had taken place deep within the palace. Consort De and Empress Liu had vanished without a trace, every record had been destroyed, and the truth buried beneath the passage of time.
Princesses Jinxian and Yuzhen had been separated from their birth mother since childhood, and for years they had desperately searched for their family. In the imperial prison, Wei Tuan'er was the only survivor of the old case. No matter how she was interrogated, she kept her secret and said nothing.
As emperor, Li Longji could not openly reopen the case without compromising the royal family's dignity. He and his two younger sisters devised a dangerous plan, enlisting Li Fei, a swordsman from Zhongnan Mountain whose appearance bore a striking resemblance to Ruizong Li Dan. They framed him and sent him to the imperial prison, where he would pose as the disgraced Ruizong and go undercover, earning Wei Tuan'er's trust.
A ruse of feigned suffering was quietly set in motion. Once Wei Tuan'er let down her guard, they would help her escape, then secretly follow her and investigate along her route across a thousand miles.
Jinxian and Yuzhen left the inner palace and entered the martial world of Guanzhong. Along the way, they traveled through towns and villages and sought out old acquaintances, while the grudges of the Baqiao Escort Agency, martial arts rivalries, and ambushes by remnants of the previous dynasty followed one after another. False princes, long-buried cases, chivalry, and court intrigue became tangled together in layer upon layer.
The two princesses crossed mountains and rivers in search of their mother's trail, gradually tearing away the veil concealing the power struggle that had taken place deep within the palace and uncovering the royal secret deliberately buried all those years ago.
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