Qianlong first meets Xiaoyanzi (literally "Little Swallow") on his hunting grounds, into which she broke whilst serving as Ziwei's messenger.

After accidentally being shot by an arrow, Qianlong finds the message she is carrying and mistakes her for his daughter and quickly becomes enamored with her happy-go-lucky charm and her free-spirited ways, unfettered by the protocol and conventions of the nobility.

Xiaoyanzi eventually convinces the court to allow her to bring Ziwei into her household, still determined to help her reconnect with her father.

As sworn sisters, Ziwei reveals her most important secrets to Xiaoyanzi, including her background (that she is the emperor's illegitimate child).

Xiaoyanzi lives an equally adventurous life inside the palace, where she meets her lover, Yongqi, as well as friends Ertai and Erkang.

After discovering the enormity of her mistakes, she vows to return the title of princess to Ziwei but is still too afraid, to tell the truth.

Tension grows as Xiaoyanzi struggles to adapt to life in the Forbidden City, violating the rules several times.

Additionally, her guilt about stealing Ziwei's title becomes unbearable, to the point where she unsuccessfully attempts to escape from the Forbidden City.

When they run away from the Forbidden City, Yongqi gets jealous of Xiaoyanzi's close relationship with Xiao Jian, before it was revealed that he was her brother.

When Xiaoyanzi was but a baby, her father was beheaded at the order of Qianlong for writing a poem that offended the Qing Dynasty.

Xiao Jian's foster parents reveal that Fang Ci has a birthmark on her body, but at first, they are reluctant to say out loud where her birthday is.

In the scene after this, Yongqi pulls Xiao Jian aside to confirm this fact, albeit with much amusement at Xiaoyanzi's expense.

Ziwei's single but talented mother, Xia Yuhe, had a romance several years ago with the Qianlong Emperor.

Their relationship starts off being complicated because of Erkang's position as a royal imperial guard whilst Ziwei is still a commoner.

Both of their titles cause complications, so Erkang gets her into the Forbidden City as a court maid with Xiaoyanzi to try to improve her status.

On her paternal side, Ziwei descends from the Manchu Aisin Gioro clan, the reigning imperial family of China at the time.

Through her father, Ziwei is a descendant of Genghis Khan, Eidu, Nurhaci, and other prominent figures in Manchu and Mongolian history.

During one of Qianlong's secret visits to Shandong, the Xia family saved him from the rain and gave him a place to stay.

Yongqi is Qianlong's favorite son, being intelligent, considerate, strong, and skilled at martial arts- and the most-likely heir to the throne.

His all-around talents also inspire the jealousy of the empress, who hopes her son, the twelfth prince, will succeed Qianlong instead.

He was the shooter of the fateful arrow that caused Xiaoyanzi to lose consciousness, triggering the train of events and mistaken identities.

Because Xiaoyanzi struggles to adjust to living in the Forbidden City, Yongqi, along with Ertai, helps her through some early problems.

At one point, Qianlong decides to pair him with Sai Ya, a princess from Tibet, but he was saved by his younger brother and narrowly escapes the dreaded marriage.

The Emperor's temper worsens and he sends her back to Beijing with Wet-Nurse Rong to live in a deserted place in the Forbidden City.

At the beginning of Season 2, when the empress no longer wants to hurt Xiaoyanzi and Ziwei, Wet-Nurse Rong instigates her to continue for the well-being of her son.

A princess from Tibet, Saiya and her father arrive in Beijing in hopes of a marriage with the Aisin-Gioro royal family.

They only share many characteristics, including a lack of interest in literacy, a feisty temper, and enjoyment of physical activities like kung fu.

Her father, Ali He Zhuo, the leader of the Uyghur tribe, came to Beijing in hopes of making peace with China.

Her insecurities in the Forbidden City and rejection of Qianlong's love result in trouble, thus leading to the climax of My Fair Princess II.

A relatively insignificant character in My Fair Princess III, Xia Yingying is a prostitute Qianlong meets on his trip to Jiangnan.