In nineteenth century China, two girls named Snow Flower and Lily are forever bonded together as sworn sisters. They are paired as laotong by a matchmaker who is also responsible for arranging their marriages. They are isolated by their families and communicate by writing in a secret sisterly language, Nü shu (a historical practice in China in that period) on a unique Chinese fan that Snow Flower possesses. In the present day Shanghai, their descendants Sophia Liao and Nina Wei struggle with the intimacy of their own pure and intense childhood friendship. As teenagers, Sophia and Nina were introduced to the idea of laotong, and they signed a traditional laotong contract on the cover of Canto-pop Faye Wong's album Fu Zao (Restless in English). Eventually they are separated but come together again when Sophia falls into a coma after being struck by a taxi while cycling. Reunited at long last, they must come to understand the story of the strong and close ancestral connection hidden from them in the folds of the antique white silk fan or lose one another forever in the process.
The plot follows Princess Turandot, who is cursed by a mysterious power emanating from three Mazovian bracelets that were given to her as birthday gifts. These bracelets’ life-draining effects cause the princess to become cruel, and gradually lose her humanity.
Foreign princes who come to court her must solve three riddles, one for each bracelet, and only then will she be freed from the power of the bracelets. In the event any of the questions is answered incorrectly, the attempted solver would be put to death. One day, Calaf, an ordinary citizen, risks his life to answer the riddles to save her and inadvertently uncovers his own extraordinary past.
Foreign princes who come to court her must solve three riddles, one for each bracelet, and only then will she be freed from the power of the bracelets. In the event any of the questions is answered incorrectly, the attempted solver would be put to death. One day, Calaf, an ordinary citizen, risks his life to answer the riddles to save her and inadvertently uncovers his own extraordinary past.
During the Joseon Dynasty, a young woman named Hong Chun Ki is a painter – a true rarity in Joseon Korea, where Confucian values dictate that such pursuits are unsuitable for a woman. She was born blind but somehow managed to acquire a sense of vision. And now she has been accepted to the most prestigious art college in the land. One day, she meets Ha Ram, an astrologer whose fate is the polar opposite of her own: Although he was born sighted, he lost his vision in a childhood accident. Regardless, he is also in possession of an astounding talent that allows him to read the future by tracing the movement of the sky at night despite the fact that he is blind. The duo is sucked into the machinations of the royal court, particularly those involving two princes, the free-spirited Prince Yang Myung and the cruel, scheming Prince Joo Hyang – a man who longs to become the next Joseon king.
