A small ghetto in the vast country of Rong Shi receives news that the Prince, Ruan Hefang, is looking for a beautiful, talented girl to take as his wife. When the news reaches the two siblings, Zhu Jiahao, the older brother throws the letter away and asks his younger sister, Juna to play the ruan. She smiles and begins. After a while, Jiahao realizes that someone is near the door. When he swings it open, a young hooded man is startled. Jiahao asks him why he is here and the man says that he heard a beautiful instrument being played. The man apologizes then leaves.

A few days later, guards show up at their house. Jiahao asks why they are there he is given a silent glare. One guard ushers into the house and finds Juna preparing to play the instrument. He brings her outside as a carriage

pulls up. Jiahao pulls Juna away as she is being taken. The guards demand that he release her. He refuses. The guard says that from this day forward, she is the property of the Prince and must come to the palace.

Both Jiahao and Juna are frozen. The guard grabs ahold of Juna and begins to pull her away. She slaps the guard’s hand off her and says she belongs to no one and chooses to stay with her brother. The carriage door opens and someone walks out. Jiahao recognizes him as the hooded man. Ruan Hefang apologizes for his guards’ harsh approach but Jiahao lashes out saying that he nor his sister can obsequiously obey his command. Hefang laughs and says that they don’t have a choice. A guard knocks Jiahao out and Juna catches him as he falls to the ground.

Hefang tells her that she has two choices. The first is to go with him, peacefully and he lets her brother live, or he kills Jiahao and takes her forcefully. Juna asks if he has the power to do so and Hefang smiles. Juna looks at her unconscious brother and says that she will go with them. After placing Jiahao on his bed mat, she kisses his forehead and says she is sorry.

The evening came, Jiahao wakes up to find Juna and the other people, withdrew. In the emptiness of his small home, he begins to cry like he did ten years ago when their mother died and father disappeared.

In a tower of the Yang Palace, Juna cries in a small corner of her new room. Prince Hefang stand by the door, overseeing her in this pitiful state. A

maid comes up to him and hands him a tray of food for the two of them. Hefang walks over and places the bowl on the floor near Juna. She sobbingly says that she doesn't want it. Hefang picks it up and ushers it towards her. Juna, enraged, hits the bowl out of his hand and spills it onto the floor.

Hefang sighs and comments on the waste of good food. Juna’s reply is that she doesn't care. Hefang grabs her wrists and forces her to stand. He says that she is acting like a brat and if he must, beat her into submission. Silent tears rolled consecutively down her cheek. Hefang released his grasped and Juna fell silently on the floor.

Two weeks passed and Juna was finally announced to the public as Hefang’s fiance. She spots Jiahao in the crowd and she looks away. Once the crowd disperses, Jiahao finds his way home. Outside his house, he finds someone standing by the door. When Jiahao asks who he is, the man’s reply is that he is Prince Hefang’s personal guard. He also says that Hefang is not

here. When Jiahao enters his house, sitting at the table quietly with few tears in his eyes, is Juna. She stands and looks at her worry-struck brother. When she smiles, Jiahao swiftly turns away and says that she should save her smile for the Prince. Her smile disappears and tears begin to fall from her eyes. Through her tears, she says that she is unable to do anything at the palace. She locks herself in her room and sometimes neglects to eat. She states that she wanted to visit for some time but Hefang wouldn’t allow it until she was officially announced. Jiahao walks on to the hallway and disappears into his room. The man outside comes in and tells Juna that it’s time to go. A carriage pulls up to the house. Juna glances at her door. She goes to it then goes inside. Within a drawer, she pulls out two things. A scrapbook filled with pictures of their life and a medium sized black box.

When she leaves the house, the guards on the carriage help her in. The man from before places a large envelope on Jiahao’s table then leaves. When they arrive at the Palace, Hefang greets and asks why she was crying. Juna ignores him and walks silently to her room. She locks the door and takes off the dress she was wearing. She finds one of her brother’s shirts she had taken with her. It had been cleaned and she puts it on. Juna retreats to the corner near the door and cries. From outside, Hefang listens to the poor girl and sighs. Behind him, his aide, An Lei, says that this was a bad idea and hopes that what he was told to give Jiahao wasn’t another one.

Time passes as Juna and Hefang’s wedding day close in. Jiahao visits Juna in the Palace. When she meets him, Jiahao describes her as losing her color. Hefang appears and asks Jiahao if he will take Juna to the upcoming Festival. Jiahao agrees and on the day of the festival, finds Juna dressed in a gorgeous silver cheongsam. She asks if they can go and he sadly says they can. The two take a carriage down to the lively town. People stare as they see Juna step down out if the carriage with another man other than the Prince.

One of Juna’s old friend recognizes her from the crowd and approaches her, asking how she was doing. Juna replies that she is better than ever with a fake smile painted across her face. An anonymous young man comes up behind the friend and asks why Juna is with this man instead of the Prince. Juna replies that Jiahao is her brother and that it has been a while since they hung out. The man took the friend and left. Jiahao took Juna around the festival's activities hoping it would cheer her up. About an hour later, Jiahao took her up to the hills to watch the fireworks. She asks why he would bother to do anything for her. Jiahao replies that she looked as if the color had left her. Juna says that she was fine but Jiahao rebounded saying that Hefang said that you locked herself in her room almost every day. Juna asks what did he want her to do. Jiahao said smile which confused her greatly. He said smile and face the future holding her head high. Juna looked at the sky as the fireworks gleamed in an array of colors. She smiled and said that she will.

A few weeks passed as Lei watched from the garden gazebo as Hefang and Juna strolled around the garden. He noticed how the lady began to feel more comfortable towards the Prince after returning from the festival. Hefang catches his gaze and smiles. Juna asks what is so funny and he says nothing. A few months later, with her brother’s approval, Hefang and Juna’s wedding takes place in the garden of the Palace. Two years later, Juna gives birth to twins. The sister, the eldest, grows to become the next Empress of Rong Shi. and the brother, the youngest, becomes her protector.