Xun is a poor artisan, trying his best to support his family. His greatest wish is to father a son but he has no such luck. One day, his daughter, Mei-bái ruins his chance of gaining a fortune on his latest project. In his anger and desperateness, he sells his daughter to the emperor's most trusted warrior, Jian Shen.
Jian Shen has a daughter named Cǎi-chi. She and Mei-bái become close friends, inseparable until two young men, the emperor's sons, come into their lives.
The vain empress Jai-li has her eye on the blossoming Cǎi-chi and Mei-bái who rival her beauty, and she wants them dead.