Li Yueyao, a modern corporate worker who transmigrated into the body of Princess Jinyang of the Da Jin Dynasty, has spent seven years in self-imposed exile at Chun Shan Palace to avoid imperial marriage arrangements. Despite her desire for a quiet life, she is plagued by recurring dreams in which her deceased parents, grandparents, and siblings warn her that her nephew, Emperor Li Chenghong, has been poisoned and that the empire faces imminent collapse due to court rebellion and inner palace chaos. When the Emperor is struck unconscious by falling ancestral plaques during the Laba Festival, Li Yueyao recognizes the fulfillment of her dreams and immediately returns to the capital.
Upon her arrival, she encounters a palace under strict lockdown enforced by the Empress, signaling the growing power of the Xie clan and the marginalization of the Crown Prince. Using the Cang Dragon Token, a relic granting authority equal to the Emperor’s, Li Yueyao forces her way into the inner sanctum. She diagnoses the Emperor with Chimu poison, a slow-acting toxin that mimics chronic illness, administered over the past two months. Her diagnosis contradicts the Imperial Medical Bureau, which claims the Emperor suffers only from a recurrence of old ailments. Li Yueyao asserts control, silencing the disruptive Princess Zhaoging with acupuncture and ordering the Emperor to rest while she investigates the source of the poison.
The investigation reveals a complex web of conspiracy centered on the Imperial Consort, Shangguan Shi. Li Yueyao interrogates Qin Momo, a loyal servant formerly demoted to the Laundry Bureau after being falsely accused of causing a miscarriage. Qin Momo reveals she overheard the Imperial Consort conspiring with a man in black robes, who instructed her to poison the Emperor. The child the Consort was carrying was not the Emperor’s, but rather the offspring of a foreign Hu tribesman, a secret that would have caused political disaster if revealed. Li Yueyao also discovers that Consort Shu has been poisoned with Red Beauty’s Intoxication, a counterpart to the Emperor’s toxin, indicating a systematic effort to eliminate key figures in the harem.
Li Yueyao moves to consolidate power by stripping the Empress of her authority and entrusting the management of the six palaces to Consort Xian, a former favorite of the Emperor who has secluded herself in Yong’an Palace for five years following a dispute over the Imperial Consort. This decision shocks the court and forces the Imperial Consort to recognize Li Yueyao as a serious threat. Meanwhile, Li Yueyao reinstates loyal servants from the previous reign, including the capable eunuch Qian Lou, to aid her investigation. As she delves deeper, she uncovers discrepancies in national tax revenues and administrative negligence, suggesting that the poisoning is part of a larger scheme to weaken the Emperor’s grip on the throne. The story concludes with Li Yueyao preparing to confront the hidden poisoner while navigating the treacherous dynamics between the Emperor, his consorts, and the imperial clan.
