Set in the 10th century, the story revolves around two monarchs:
Zhao Kuangyin, the first ruler of the
Song dynasty, and
Li Yu, the last ruler of the
Southern Tang dynasty. It is the third TV series focusing on the complex friend-foe relationship between these two historical characters (though in history no such relationship exists), after the 1986 Singaporean series
The Sword and the Song and the 1996 Taiwanese series
Love, Sword, Mountain & River, but the plot-lines differ somewhat.
Li Yu and
Zhao Kuangyin were two emperors during the
Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. Li Yu was kind and respectful, while Zhao Kuangyin was rough and ambitious. They had different backgrounds and attitudes towards life, resulting in two drastically different futures. Zhao Kuangyin and
Zhou Ehuang fell in love at first sight and they planned to visit
Southern Tang together. They met Li Yu, and they formed an unlikely friendship. However because of fate,
Zhou Ehuang ultimately married Li Yu and she became the Queen. The marriage between Zhou Ehuang and Li Yu deteriorated when Li Yu also had an affair with Zhou Ehuang's sister, Zhou Jiamin, who later became Queen Zhou the Younger and their second son died at the age of three. Zhou Ehuang soon died from sorrow. Zhao Kuangyin was angered by her death, and wanted to wage war against Southern Tang. After Zhao Kuangyin conquered Southern Tang and the other kingdoms, he spared Li Yu and his family. He also unexpectedly met
Madame Huarui, who looked exactly like Zhou Ehuang. ==Cast==