Gu Jun, a seventeen-year-old university student from modern China, is swept away by a river current during a rafting trip and transported to the Xuan Dynasty, a fictional historical era riddled with corruption and rebellion. Initially mistaken for a member of the White Python Army, a bandit group led by a self-proclaimed king, Gu Jun is imprisoned and tortured until he pretends to cooperate and escapes into the mountains. After the army is crushed by government forces, he emerges to find himself in a hostile environment where he is illiterate, speaks a different dialect, and lacks a household registration. Struggling with starvation and physical weakness, he contemplates suicide by jumping back into the river but is instead pulled from the water by a handsome young man named Lin Yue, who is suffering from amnesia and has no memory of his identity or past.
Gu Jun, seizing an opportunity for survival, lies to Lin Yue and claims to be his wife, a woman named Gu Jun who eloped with him due to a family feud. Lin Yue, unable to recall anything, accepts this explanation because Gu Jun’s appearance and demeanor seem consistent with the story, and because he senses that Gu Jun is harmless and physically weaker than himself. The two establish a precarious existence together, living in a damp bridge hole in Zhuyang County. Gu Jun’s modern knowledge proves limited in this harsh setting; he cannot perform manual labor and must rely on Lin Yue to find work. Lin Yue secures a job as a laborer on a construction site, earning meager wages that barely sustain them both.
As they navigate their new life, Gu Jun faces the constant threat of exposure. He must maintain his female persona while hiding his true gender, all while learning the local language and customs. His only ally is a kind beggar named Old Huo, who provides shelter and advice before disappearing, leaving Gu Jun vulnerable to local gangs. Gu Jun’s desperation leads him to pawn his only warm coat to buy food, a decision that highlights the extreme poverty and danger of their situation. Meanwhile, Lin Yue remains suspicious yet protective, occasionally testing Gu Jun’s stories while gradually forming a bond with him.
The narrative takes a darker turn when Zhao Shuilai, a clerk from a rival pawnshop, seeks revenge against Gu Jun for humiliating him during a transaction. Zhao hires beggars to tail Gu Jun and eventually confronts Lin Yue with fabricated accusations of infidelity, claiming Gu Jun is having an affair with another man. Lin Yue, though initially shaken, displays a cold and calculating nature, physically intimidating Zhao into silence. This incident reveals that Lin Yue is not merely a passive amnesiac but a man with a dangerous past and significant capabilities. The story concludes with Gu Jun realizing that his survival depends not only on maintaining his lie but also on navigating the hidden threats and power dynamics of the Xuan Dynasty, while Lin Yue begins to suspect that Gu Jun is hiding more than just his gender.
