The life story of Da Yu'er, an influential woman who oversaw three dynastic successions in the early Qing Dynasty.

As a girl, Da Yu'er, the future Empress Dowager Xiao Zhuang, was a free-spirited princess roaming the Mongolian prairie and dreaming of marrying her love, Dorgon. But as fate would have it, she married his brother, Hong Taiji, in a political alliance. She struggled between her heart's desire and her responsibility to her clan.