Xu Mancang was born into a wealthy landowning family with eight hundred qing of fertile farmland. That autumn, prolonged rain delayed the harvest, while unscrupulous grain merchants hoarded temporary laborers and waited for the chance to drive up wages, leaving the family desperately short-handed. Full of clever schemes, she sends all kinds of letters to 'trick' her fiancé, Xie Zhiheng, military general Huo Linchuan, students from the Imperial College, and even officials from all six ministries into working in the fields. Even the emperor, traveling incognito, gets roped into helping with the accounts. Together, they finally manage to harvest the crops in time and foil the grain merchants' conspiracy. As Xu Mancang and Xie Zhiheng grow closer, their efforts also unexpectedly inspire the entire imperial court to value agriculture and make farming the foundation of the nation.