The Princess Joins the Bandits: She Starts by Seizing the Crown Prince’s Anti-Bandit Camp

Crown Prince Xiao Yu is dispatched to the flood-ravaged city of Suzhou to suppress the powerful Qinglong Stronghold, whose chieftain has declared himself king. Accompanied by Shen Yi, the heir to the Duke's estate, Xiao Yu arrives to find a city where corruption runs deep and the populace lives in fearful compliance. Unbeknownst to the imperial court, the true power behind Qinglong Stronghold is a masked young woman known as Ali, who overthrew the previous chief through superior martial arts. Ali is actually Xiao Li, the Crown Prince's biological younger sister, who was kidnapped six years prior during an assassination attempt on the Crown Prince. The Emperor, Xiao Che, had used Xiao Li as bait to lure out the conspirators, ultimately sacrificing her to save his heir. Believed dead by the court, Xiao Li was sold into slavery and eventually rose through the ranks of the You Pavilion, an intelligence network, becoming its ruthless master, Qinglan.

Upon entering Suzhou, Xiao Yu and Shen Yi observe that the citizens display unnatural, frozen smiles and there are no beggars, indicating a city under total control. Xiao Yu encounters a ragged little beggar girl who reminds him profoundly of his lost sister. The child, terrified of being taken to a place called the Rat Hole, is captured by imperial guards. Xiao Yu, driven by guilt and hope, takes the girl, naming her A-Li, into his care. He learns from her that the Rat Hole is located in an abandoned garden called Liyuan, owned by the corrupt Prefect Cheng Yi. Concurrently, Ali reveals her true identity and motivations in private, showing a half of a jade pendant that matches the one Xiao Yu possesses. She has returned to Suzhou not merely to manage bandit affairs, but to investigate the Prefect's crimes and potentially confront her past.

Xiao Yu and Shen Yi investigate Liyuan with A-Li's guidance, discovering a horrific underground dungeon where the Prefect has been imprisoning and trafficking civilians. The discovery shatters Xiao Yu's idealized view of his mission and reveals the extent of the local government's depravity. Prefect Cheng Yi is arrested, but the bandit threat from Qinglong Stronghold remains. Ali, operating as Qinglan, manipulates events from the shadows, ordering her subordinates to harass the imperial troops to draw out Xiao Yu while she maintains her cover as the innocent beggar A-Li. Xiao Yu, desperate for information about his sister, uses A-Li's connection to the You Pavilion to arrange a meeting with the Pavilion Master, Qinglan.

During the meeting, Qinglan confirms that Xiao Li is alive but refuses to reveal her location, hinting that Xiao Li no longer wishes to return to the imperial family. This news devastates Xiao Yu, who had hoped for a reunion. Meanwhile, A-Li's dual life creates tension; she grows closer to Xiao Yu, who treats her with the same tenderness he once showed his sister, yet she is tormented by her hatred for the Emperor and her desire for power. Her former master, Xue Ji, whom she had imprisoned, taunts her about her weakness and the impossibility of reclaiming her royal status. The conflict escalates when Qinglong Stronghold attacks the imperial camp, and A-Li volunteers for a reconnaissance mission in the mountains. She disappears during the mission, leading Xiao Yu to venture into the dangerous wilderness alone to find her, blurring the lines between his duty as Crown Prince and his personal obsession with his lost sister.