Snapping Golden Bough

A series based on the events in the reign of the Jiajing Emperor of the Ming dynasty.

When Song Xiaoyu is unexpectedly pulled into a scripted world as a tragic heroine fated to be discarded by the villainous male lead, she tries to escape, only to be trapped in an endless loop of fatal outcomes each time she strays from the plot. No matter how hard she resists, the story keeps pushing her toward Nan Heng, the cold and calculating lead. As she navigates this paper-thin world where every character is bound by fate, Song Xiaoyu must fight not just for her survival, but for control over her own story.

As a Chinese special forces operative falls from a beam to his possible death during a mission, he recalls the path he took as a dimwitted young man in rural China to reach this point.

Because of political reasons, princess Li Rong and Pei Wenxuan got married at the age of 18. In the end they drifted further and further afar from each other. After 20 years of a loveless marriage, they were manipulated into turning against each other, leading to their deaths. However, they wake up back at 18, before their marriage, facing the hardest time of their lives. The two of them are given second change together, to save those around them.