New Year’s Eve, The 19th Year of Youning. Heavy snow is falling, Gu Mansion. A girl plays Rattle Drum in the yard in Blossoms of Power episode 1. A squad of soldiers in armor breaks into the mansion. Gu family and Fan family have fought for many years. The outcome is finally clear. Gu family falls. The whole clan is killed. Prince Xin, Xiao Changqing oversees the execution on his own. He’s the fifth prince. He gets Royal Decree to help Gu Qingzhi be Princess Xin. She becomes the only survivor.
But Gu Qingzhi cannot live in the world alone. She prepares a cup of Poisoned Wine for herself. It’s the ending of her. It’s also the last move. Fan family kills Princess Xin by poisoning. They cannot avoid the guilt. She uses her life as bait, letting Fan family be buried with Gu family.
Xiao Changqing walks into Gu Qingzhi’s bedroom. He helps her when she falls. He asks for doctors. The wine cup falls on the floor.
Gu Qingzhi is in the fog. She wonders where she is. Is it a dream or illusion? The bright moon hangs high in the sky. A petal falls into another girl’s hand. She’s Princess Zhaoning, Shen Xihe. She doesn’t expect that she cannot see scenery in the Northwest after just three days. She’s on a boat.
The maid puts the cape on Shen Xihe. She asks her if she missed home. Shen Xihe complains it to the maid Ling Long that she doesn’t want to go to the capital. She wants to stay in the Northwest all her life. Staying with her father and older brother. Ling Long asks Shen Xihe not to say so. She reminds her that Duke controls 100,000 Cavalrymen in the Northwest. Emperor gave her the title “Princess Zhaoning” in person. He summoned her to the palace for a marriage.
Ling Long heard that the princes were outstanding. Shen Xihe scolds Ling Long. She thinks she has no manners. She asks her to go back. She wants to stay a while. Ling Long agrees. But she pushes Shen Xihe into the sea. Gu Qingzhi is waiting for Shen Xihe on the bridge. She strokes her face. She gets in her body.
At sea, Sea Bandits steal the Immortal Sash from Crown Prince. Crown Prince’s bodyguard, Tian Yuan blames the bandits. The bandit thinks Tian Yuan cannot do another to them. He mentions his master is very weak. Crown Prince coughs. He learns that the heroes want to bully him. His name is Xiao Huayong. He thinks it’s good to stretch his muscles a bit. He won’t have a chance to have fun like that after he returns to the capital.
He overs his eyes and jumps into the sky. He shoots the bandits. The captain of the bandits notices that Xiao Huayong is up the mast. He asks the bandits to get him down. But Xiao Huayong shoots the captain. Immortal Sash falls into the sea. Xiao Huayong jumps into the sea.
The next day, Xiao Huayong finds Shen Xihe on the beach. He takes a look at her jade pendant. He learns that she’s Princess Zhaoning. She asks him to save her. He puts Immortal Sash into her hand. It can save her life. He will come back to take it.
Shen Xihe wakes up in the bedroom. The maid checks Shen Xihe’s pulse. She learns that she’s fine. Shen Xihe gets up from the bed. She’s surprised that the maids call her princess. She’s Gu Qingzhi, not Shen Xihe. Because Shen Xihe would recognize her maids. Gu Qingzhi asks the maid to take a mirror for her. The maid hands over the mirror to Gu Qingzhi.
Gu Qingzhi looks at herself in the mirror. The maid feels guilty for not taking care of the princess well. Gu Qingzhi remembers the maid’s name is Pearl. Another maid’s name is Moyu. Moyu practiced martial arts when she was a little girl. She studied medical skills as well. She could protect Gu Qingzhi.
Moyu reports it to the princess that they’re in the hotel. She went to the capital for the birthday party of Empress Dowager. Fortunately, she’s fine. Otherwise, the whole duke mansion cannot explain it to the court. Gu Qingzhi asks Moyu if the Left Prime Minister is Mr. Gu. Moyu shakes her head. She says that Gu family and Fan family got involved in the Party Strife. The whole Gu family was killed. Fan family murdered Princess Xin. The family didn’t have a good ending.
Gu Qingzhi realizes that Prince Xin understood the intention of the poisoned wine. Pearl tells Gu Qingzhi that Mo Yuan and Huang Zhongsi follow her. Moyu adds that Ling Long follows Gu Qingzhi as well. Shen Xihe fell into water. Ling Long jumped into water to look for Shen Xihe. She doesn’t find her. Gu Qingzhi tells the two that Ling Long pushed her into water. She asks them to arrest Ling Long. She says that it’s fine even if the maid is dead. The two maids are shocked after they witnessed the princess’s cruelty.
In Xiao Huayong’s room, Xiao Huayong takes the medicine. Tian Yuan tells the prince that Immortal Sash can enhance his body. He doesn’t understand why he gave it to someone else. In Gu Qingzhi’s room, Gu Qingzhi takes a look at Immortal Sash. She’s surprised that the guy used the herb to save her. The double moons appeared in the sky. It’s the sign that Galaxy Gate appeared.
She wants to be the person who plays the game at the top of the clouds since heaven gave her the chance. Not falling flowers in the deep yard who can be picked by anyone.
The two maids break into Gu Qingzhi’s room. They report it to Gu Qingzhi that the eunuch Huang Zhongsi caught a good girl. Gu Qingzhi visits Huang Zhongsi when the guy just walked out of the house. She gets Moyu to save the girl.
On the mountain top, Gu Qingzhi gives the sachet to Huang Zhongsi. She mentions he escorted her to the capital, but he did the beast thing in the hotel. She wants to punish him. He explains it to her that the girl is the embroiderer in the county. She broke his official robes. He was angry to slap her. She kept crying.
The bodyguard Mo Yuan hurts Huang Zhongsi’s neck. Huang Zhongsi mentions he’s Emperor’s eunuch. He will ask Emperor for the punishment even if he made mistakes. The princess cannot punish him. Otherwise she looks down Emperor. Gu Qingzhi laughs. She pulls out a blade. She puts the blade on the guy’s neck. She comforts him that he won’t die with the height. She wants to let him taste the feeling that he’s forced. She asks him if he needs her to get someone to help him jump.
Huang Zhongsi jumps off the cliff. He’s eaten by the tiger immediately. Gu Qingzhi tells Mo Yu that the sachet she gave the guy was Beast Summoner. She asks the eunuch how Huang Zhongsi died. He says that the guy fell off cliff when she escorted her. She thinks he’s very smart. She gets the bodyguards to take the eunuchs away. Mo Yu worries that the two will spread rumor after they go back to the palace. But Gu Qingzhi wants them to spread the whole capital.
She thinks she should let them know that she’s not a pushover. Someone wants to be enemy with her, she cannot avoid it. She will be bullied by everyone, if she’s afraid of it. Pearl whispers in Mo Yu’s ear. The previous’s princess was innocent and pure. She was like a weak Peach Blossom who didn’t experience wind and sand. But she becomes a flower queen who looks down on every flower after she fell into water.
Xiao Huayong watches the princess. He heard that she was a good girl. But she killed Emperor’s eunuch. He thinks she’s bold. Tian Yuan says that the princess is ruthless. He doesn’t understand why Xiao Huayong saved her with Immortal Sash. Xiao Huayong explains that the girl would die if he didn’t give it to her. He has an idea to take the stuff back. He takes the pill. The pill can change his voice.
The next day, Mo Yu reports to Gu Qingzhi that the son of the richest man, Hua Fuhai asks for a meeting up. He wants to take back Immortal Sash. Hua Fuhai shows up. Gu Qingzhi smells his incense. She recognizes the incense. She doesn’t expect that the guy has great taste even if he’s a businessman. He claims that Immortal Sash belongs to him. It was stolen. He tried to look for it, and he knew it wasn’t in her hand. She confesses it to him that she fell into the river.
A hero gave the stuff to her, and he saved her life. She cannot give the gift from a Benefactor to him with just his words. She prepares an endgame for him. If he wins, she will return Immortal Sash to him. He agrees. He makes a move. He mistakes that he won. But she asks him to take a look at the endgame. She tells him that he loses. He holds the black chess. He thinks it’s interesting. He asks her how she turned the white into the black. She reveals there’s a Perfume Powder that can color.
He tells her that she used a trick. He says that her victory isn’t earned fairly. She laughs and she tells him that all is fair in war. The piece is just the tip of the iceberg. He agrees with what she said that chess match is for winning. He admits that he underestimated his opponent. He accepts his failure after he got the lesson. He volunteers to serve her.
In the evening, Xiao Huayong looks at the black chess in his room. Tian Yuan thinks the prince intended to leave Immortal Sash at the princess’s place. So he has the excuses to visit her. He reminds him that they have waited for Prince Lie.
In the bamboo forest, Ninth Prince, Prince Lie, Xiao Changying is attacked by the assassins. Xiao Huayong and Tian Yuan watch the fight. Prince Lie is being hunted down by various factions. Because he owns The Record of Rouge. The record records the crimes that all officials committed. If someone gets it, he can do anything he wants. Tian Yuan believes that his master can find the clue of the person who poisoned if he gets the record. But Prince Lie risks his life to protect the stuff.
Xiao Huayong points out that Prince Lie’s men were dead on the way there. Prince Lie is alone. He won’t have a chance to win. They catch the chance to save the guy, getting whereabouts of The Record of Rouge.
Gu Qingzhi’s carriage arrives in the bamboo forest. Gu Qingzhi recognizes Prince Lie. She wonders why the guy is there. Mo Yu and Mo Yuan try to go to save Prince Lie. But Gu Qingzhi asks the two not to take action without her order. She orders them to retreat. But Prince Lie throws his badge into her carriage. Pearl recognizes the badge. She tells the lady that the person is Prince Lie.
If Gu Qingzhi knows he’s a prince and she doesn’t save him, her clan will be killed. Gu Qingzhi has to order her people to save the prince. Tian Yuan tells Xiao Huayong that Prince Lie is going to be saved by the princess. He wants to go to catch Prince Lie. Xiao Huayong goes against it. He mentions the princess is going to get in the capital for the marriage. It’s an important case. He offers to follow Prince Lie’s trace and look for the clue.
The assassins are killed. Gu Qingzhi walks to Prince Lie. He mentions she saved him in the end. She explains it to him that she didn’t know his identity. Fortunately, he’s not dead. He gets angry after he heard her words. He asks her if she wanted to take action until he was dead. She says that she heard that he had great martial arts. He asks her if she planned to ignore it, if he didn’t cast the jade pendant. She asks him to forgive her. She didn’t know what happened so that she couldn’t rashly step in. After all, the hunter might not be evil. He might be forced. The hunted may not necessarily be innocent. He might deserve it. Prince Lie tells Gu Qingzhi that she’s a girl who has a heart of a snake or scorpion. He passes out.
Prince Lie is taken to the room. Gu Qingzhi tries to treat him. But Pearl stops the princess. She mentions the guy doesn’t wear clothes. Gu Qingzhi tells Pearl that they shouldn’t care for the etiquette. Saving the guy is more important.
Gu Qingzhi puts Datura Incense on the table. The incense can make people sleep. Mo Yu stitches up Prince Li’s wound. She notices that he woke up. Gu Qingzhi tells Mo Yu that the incense’s effectiveness is limited. Mo Yu should be quickly. The guy tries to get up. Gu Qingzhi and Pearl hold down his hands and legs. He takes a look at her face. Her face is covered by the veil. But she’s a stunningly beautiful woman. He closes his eyes.
In another room, Pearl dresses Gu Qingzhi’s wound. Gu Qingzhi’s hand was scratched by the rude guy. Pearl doesn’t understand why Prince Lie was so rough. But Gu Qingzhi looks at Pearl. She knows they draw her to encounter Prince Lie. But she didn’t want to save the guy. She mentions Pearl tried her best to persuade her. She asks her what she meant.
Gu Qingzhi realizes that her father wants Prince Lie be his son-in-law. Pearl gets on her knees to Gu Qingzhi. She confesses it to her that Prince Lie and Prince Xin are biological brothers. After Prince Xin cut ties with Gu family, Prince Lie was promoted. She stood out among the princes. If Gu Qingzhi marries Prince Lie, she doesn’t have to take part in the backstabbing and scheming in the palace. She can have a smooth life under Prince Lie’s protection. It’s Duke’s sincere efforts. Gu Qingzhi admits that her father went to great lengths. But she asks Pearl if she knows what she did wrong.
Pearl thought she made plans for Gu Qingzhi. But Gu Qingzhi needs a helper who she can entrust her life to. Not a maid who thinks she’s very smart. Leaving the Northwest, she’s not the little girl who needs father and brother to give her some advice. She’s going to get in the capital. Nobody can make decision for her except herself.
Pearl knows her mistake. She asks the princess to punish her. But Gu Qingzhi holds Pearl’s hand. She asks her to help her. Pearl cries to tell the princess that she won’t go against her.
Xiao Huayong and Tian Yuan ride horses on the road. Tian Yuan reports to his master that he found rare Frost Flower on the hooves of Prince Li’s horse. The place where the flower grows isn’t the path that Prince Lie passed through. They find the flower bed and the patch of soil. It’s obvious that someone dug it and covered it. They’re late. Tian Yuan wonders who was faster than them. Xiao Huayong laughs. He realizes that it was Princess Zhaoning.
In Gu Qingzhi’s room, Mo Yuan reports it to her that he found The Record of Rouge from the flower bed. She reads the record. She notices that the incense isn’t the incense that Prince Lie used. It’s advanced Buddha incense. Tian Yuan is surprised that Shen Xihe did it before them again. Xiao Huayong is interested in the little fox who has two faces.
Mo Yuan tells Gu Qingzhi that she will help the prince as long as she gives the stuff to him. He will be moved except Crown Prince. Crown Prince has been weak. He was poisoned when he was nine years old. When he was fifteen years old, he left the capital and rested in Luotian Taoist Temple. He doesn’t have any people at the court. He just has a title of Crown Prince. The princes are waiting for Crown Prince’s death. So they can replace him.
Tian Yuan tells Crown Prince that they should take The Record of Rouge back from Shen Xihe. But Crown Prince thinks he will get The Record of Rouge in the end. He wants to take a look how his brothers do.
Gu Qingzhi thinks it’s good after knowing Crown Prince has a short life. She says that ordinary couples have disputes. Not to mention Royal Marriages. Rather than scheming, why not find a short life person for less entanglement.
Crown Prince decides to go to the capital with Shen Xihe. Gu Qingzhi tells Mo Yuan that he doesn’t have to be nervous. She will choose her husband after she sees those princes one by one. She says that the suitable husband is her ally. She doesn’t have to pay a lot. She just needs to be in mutual benefit. At the club, the people bet on the princes they trust. But Crown Prince bets on himself. The people are surprised after they saw what Crown Prince did.