From the moment of her birth, Ye Yuan is made to live as a boy in order to protect her mother's place as mistress of the Ye Manor. Beneath the name Ye Tuling, she walks the thorny road of the imperial examinations, where every step could expose a secret worth dying for. Caught between the brutal scheming of the household and the dangers of the court, she meets Xie Ci, a cold, ruthless man who reads the hearts of others like an open book. He slowly uncovers her secret, and comes to see her as the one light that saves his life.
