An abandoned mill in Qingshi Hollow is home to Lin Wantang, an orphan with a knack for medicinal cuisine. Armed with ancestral recipes for food therapy, she combines wild herbs with coarse grains to make meals, trading cold-relief cakes and healing soups for rice. Her younger sister, A Qiao, who can identify all kinds of herbs, stays by her side as they live quietly away from the world.
One rainy autumn day, power struggles at court unleash a manhunt. Shen Yanci, a fallen prince bearing an old cold poison and framed by political enemies, flees to the outskirts of the village with an arrow wound, only to be surrounded by layers of pursuing constables. Kindhearted Lin Wantang comes to his aid, and four medicinal dishes help them overcome one crisis after another: a cold-relief multigrain cake temporarily eases the bone-deep poison; pain-relieving medicinal dumplings soothe the agony of having the arrow removed; a hemostatic soup stabilizes his blood loss; and a nourishing medicinal porridge gradually treats his old affliction.
Dangers mount along their escape route, and the constables repeatedly search for them. Thanks to her knowledge of herbs, A Qiao manages to pass them medicine again and again, helping the pair escape danger time after time. As they grow closer, Shen Yanci discovers that the white jade bracelet with a flowing-cloud pattern on Lin Wantang's wrist is an old imperial relic. They are both victims of a palace calamity from years ago, and their shared cold poison is tied to a hidden connection.
On the surface, a mill cook prepares hot food to heal the sick and save lives. Beneath that, a fallen prince lies low, plotting to reclaim his place in court. Shen Yanci stays at the mill, using his knowledge to help her manage the grain fields and build her medicinal-cuisine business, while Lin Wantang uses her unique recipes to ease his deep-rooted cold poison year after year. A bowl of hot porridge brings together two lives in ruin; a pot of medicinal food links the humble warmth of the countryside with royal intrigue. Supporting each other, they protect the simple life at the mill while quietly waiting for the right moment to uncover the truth behind the palace injustice and the political turmoil of years past.
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