Yun Kui is a sixteen-year-old palace maid working in the Imperial Food Bureau of the Da Zhao dynasty. Orphaned and raised by a greedy uncle who intended to sell her to an elderly official, she fled to the palace to secure her future. Guided by a senior maid, she adopts a pragmatic strategy of cultivating relationships with various palace guards, viewing them as potential husbands to ensure her survival and comfort after she leaves the palace at twenty-five. Her plans are disrupted when the Crown Prince, known as the Jade-faced Rakshasa for his brutal nature and reputation as a mass murderer, returns to the capital after winning a decisive victory on the northern frontier. He is immediately targeted in an assassination attempt, suffering from poisoned arrow wounds that leave him in a coma.
Yun Kui is selected, along with other kitchen staff, to serve in the Eastern Palace. When the imperial physicians fail to administer medicine to the unconscious Crown Prince, Yun Kui volunteers, using a clever method involving a sheep intestine casing to force the bitter decoction down his throat. She succeeds in saving his life but flees in terror when he suddenly awakens and grips her wrist. The Empress, who harbors secret resentment toward the Crown Prince and wishes to control or eliminate him, recognizes Yun Kui’s boldness and beauty. She promotes Yun Kui to a bedside maid in Cheng Guang Hall, intending to use her as a spy or a pawn in her political schemes, while also hoping to place her own agents near the Prince.
Yun Kui is terrified of her new role, knowing the Crown Prince executes servants for minor infractions. However, she possesses a supernatural ability: she can enter the dreams of people she knows well. She discovers that the Crown Prince can hear the thoughts of those around him, a secret he keeps hidden. When Yun Kui serves him, her inner monologue is filled with admiration for his physical beauty rather than fear, which confuses and intrigues him. He realizes she is not plotting against him but is instead captivated by his appearance, a reaction he has never experienced from anyone in the palace.
As Yun Kui tends to the Crown Prince’s wounds, she is forced into close physical proximity with him. She notices that his wounds are not healing properly due to the lingering poison. The Crown Prince, aware of her ability to see into dreams and her unique perspective, begins to test her. He orders the return of his former steward, Cao Yuanlu, to investigate the conspiracy behind the assassination and the poison. Meanwhile, the Empress continues to manipulate events from the shadows, sending more spies and attempting to control the narrative of the Crown Prince’s recovery. Yun Kui finds herself caught between the dangerous Crown Prince, who is both terrifying and strangely protective of her, and the scheming Empress, who views her as a disposable tool. The story follows Yun Kui’s struggle to survive in the treacherous environment of the Eastern Palace while navigating her growing, complicated connection with the ruthless heir to the throne.
