Chinese audio
Xu Ruwei, daughter of the Grand Tutor, is ordered by imperial decree to marry Nie Hanshan, Prince of Zhenbei, whose heart already belongs to another. On the day of the grand wedding, the groom actually storms off for Concubine Liu's sake. Turned into the laughingstock of the whole city, she neither cries nor makes a scene, and decisively takes over authority in the prince's manor. Faced with the sweet-faced scheming concubine's repeated provocations and extravagance, Ruwei does not vie for favor or wear herself down. She takes the account books, settles them, and cuts off the woman's money, not only forcing the schemer's true face into the open but making the prince see her in a new light. She herself raises cats and plays with dogs in the rear courtyard, content in her leisure. In the seventh year after the wedding, an imperial edict transfers her to the frontier. Clear-headed and independent, Ruwei is no longer trapped in the struggles of the inner quarters, and she resolves to live with blazing brilliance in this vast world.