set in the northern song dynasty, the story revolves around sheng minglan, the unfavoured sixth daughter of an official. after being mistreated by her legal mother and bullied by her half-sisters, minglan learns to hide her skills and true intentions, and ultimately succeeds in avenging her biological mother’s death. she meets gu tingye, who initially dislikes her but after witnessing her wits and intelligence, decides to help her. they eventually fall in love with each other. after gu tingye becomes a powerful official, he successfully makes minglan his wife. as his wife, minglan helps guard against his unpleasant relatives and purges the court of corrupt ministers. the couple eventually earned their happily-ever-after, and minglan rose to prominence as an influential figure of the sheng family.