KingdomState of Chu
The State of Chu is the realm whose throne, government, frontier armies, and civilian population are threatened by succession disputes and foreign invasion. Chu Zhao changes the course of the kingdom by helping Xiao A Yu ascend the throne and by defending the border alongside Xie Yan Lai. The story contrasts those who treat the state as a prize with those who accept responsibility for its people.
CityChu Capital
The Chu Capital is the center of imperial government, noble-family influence, public opinion, and the struggle over the throne. Chu Zhao returns here to stop Xiao Xun during the Anping Rebellion and remains to guide Xiao A Yu's early reign. Court investigations, factional confrontations, literary gatherings, and the final struggle against Xie Yan Fang all develop in or around the city.
PalaceImperial Palace
The Imperial Palace is the seat of the emperor and the principal battleground of the succession crisis. Chu Zhao escorts Xiao A Yu into the palace, confronts the dying emperor, and helps secure the child's accession before Xiao Xun can claim the throne. It later remains the setting for regency disputes, court audiences, appointments, accusations, and Xiao A Yu's movement toward personal rule.
CourtImperial Audience Hall
The Imperial Audience Hall is where Xiao A Yu receives officials and where Chu Zhao, Deng Yi, Xie Yan Fang, and other ministers openly contest policy and power. Promotions, military commands, accusations of treason, peace proposals, and evidence of official corruption are presented there. The hall turns private conspiracies into public political confrontations.
OfficeImperial Guard Office
The Imperial Guard Office serves as a headquarters for palace security, intelligence collection, arrests, and politically sensitive investigations. Chu Zhao uses the office to investigate corruption and protect Xiao A Yu, while Xie Yan Lai, Xiao Man, and Zhu Yong hold authority within its evolving command structure. Its surveillance network becomes powerful enough to threaten both Deng Yi's faction and the Xie family.
HomeGrand Tutor Residence
The Grand Tutor Residence is Deng Yi's household and a recurring center of private political negotiation. Chu Zhao courts Deng Yi through gifts and attention to his mother, while Xie Yan Fang later visits the residence to reveal his manipulation of Liang Qiang. Xiao Xun eventually uses the household as part of his effort to regain access to the throne.
HomeHostage Residence
The Hostage Residence is Xiao Xun's controlled household after his position in the Capital becomes politically restricted. Although publicly contained there, he continues exchanging messages, directing Tie Ying, and coordinating with Deng Yi and the Xiaonan faction. The residence illustrates how his apparent loss of freedom does not end his succession ambitions.
OtherChu Garden
Chu Garden hosts the women's literary gathering organized by Chu Tang and supported by Chu Zhao. Noblewomen and male challengers compete in calligraphy, strategy, and scholarship there, turning the gathering into a public argument for women's intellectual independence. Its success expands Chu Tang's ambitions beyond conventional noble-family expectations.
OtherAutumn Hunt Grounds
The Autumn Hunt Grounds host the gathering through which Xie Yan Fang attempts to reveal his power and force Chu Zhao to surrender control of the frontier army. Chu Zhao deliberately attends so that he will expose his crimes and mobilize his private forces openly. Xie Yan Lai's unexpected return turns the apparent trap into the beginning of Xie Yan Fang's defeat.
CityGaoyang
Gaoyang is the ancestral power base of the Xie Family and lies close enough to the Capital for the clan to influence court affairs. Xie Yan Fang previously withdraws there while claiming illness, and Xie Yan Lai later investigates the family's medicines and the Wei Family Village conspiracy there. Xie Yan Fang retreats to Gaoyang for his final confrontation with Chu Zhao and Xie Yan Lai.
HomeGaoyang Xie Estate
The Gaoyang Xie Estate is the ancestral residence and private power center of the Xie Family. Its warehouses contain medicines and records connected to Chu Ling's illness and the events at Wei Family Village. The estate embodies the wealth, secrecy, and inherited authority that Xie Yan Fang uses to control both his clan and Xie Yan Lai.
TempleXie Ancestral Hall
The Xie Ancestral Hall preserves the clan's memorial tablets and formal definitions of legitimate family membership. Xie Yan Lai rejects Xie Yan Fang's offer to place his mother's tablet there, refusing the recognition that once controlled him. The hall later becomes the setting of the brothers' final confrontation and Xie Yan Fang's attempt to destroy the family's remaining legacy by fire.
RealmYunzhong Commandery
Yunzhong Commandery is the desert frontier region defended by Chu Ling and the Chu family's army. Chu Zhao grows up there, Xie Yan Lai builds his military career there, and repeated Shuomo invasions make its security central to the kingdom's survival. Control of Yunzhong's troops becomes one of the most contested sources of political power in the drama.
HomeChu Residence in Yunzhong
The Chu Residence in Yunzhong is Chu Zhao's childhood home and Chu Ling's domestic base near the frontier command. Chu Zhao returns there while investigating her father's illness and discovers evidence connected to the medicine supplied through Xie Yan Lai. Chu Ling's study and personal belongings also help reveal the concealed history of Mu Mian Hong.
Military BaseYunzhong Military Camp
The Yunzhong Military Camp is the operational headquarters of the frontier army. Chu Ling, Zhong Chang Rong, Xie Yan Lai, Chu Zhao, and later Xiao Man coordinate defense and military appointments from the camp. The competing court factions repeatedly attempt to replace its commanders or redirect its loyalty toward political goals.
CityWangcheng
Wangcheng is a strategically important frontier city protecting the approach to Yunzhong Commandery. Chu Zhao and Xie Yan Lai uncover signs of internal betrayal there before Shuomo forces attack. The city's soldiers and civilians suffer heavy losses, making its defense a major demonstration of Chu Zhao's willingness to share the risks of the border population.
Military BaseXinggu Pass
Xinggu Pass is a key defensive route controlling enemy access to the Yunzhong region. Liang Qiang is placed in command there but permits Shuomo forces to break through after Xie Yan Fang exploits his ambition. The fall of the pass exposes the conspiracy to remove Zhong Chang Rong and seize control of the frontier army.
OtherYingzui Valley
Yingzui Valley is the frontier battlefield where Mu Mian Hong publicly reclaims her identity as Alan Rou Ying and charges the Shuomo formation with explosives. Her sacrifice opens a path for Chu forces and protects Chu Zhao during the decisive Yunzhong defense. The valley is therefore the location of one of the story's most consequential family and military losses.
HideoutCangmu Stronghold
Cangmu Stronghold is a fortified mountain refuge associated with Mu Mian Hong, Ge Lao San, Xiao Man, and their irregular fighters. Chu Ling hides Mu Mian Hong there after publicly claiming that she died, allowing her to live beyond the reach of the Imperial Court and the Shuomo king. The stronghold later supplies Chu Zhao with covert routes, intelligence, protection, and military support.
VillageWei Family Village
Wei Family Village is destroyed by a fire for which the young Xie Yan Lai is blamed. The disaster becomes the foundation of his exile from the Xie Family and the false identity he carries as Fu Jiu. Later evidence reveals that Xiaonan caravans and Shuomo interests used the village operation to target Cangmu Stronghold and create grounds for accusing Chu Ling of treason.
RealmXiaonan Commandery
Xiaonan Commandery is the hereditary territory controlled by Prince Xiao Nan and later seized by Xiao Xun. Its troops, trade caravans, oil shipments, and routes toward Shuomo give the royal branch the resources needed to challenge the Capital. Xiao Xun eventually declares himself emperor there and raises a large army against Chu Zhao's government.
HomeXiaonan Prince Manor
Xiaonan Prince Manor is the household and administrative center of Prince Xiao Nan's regional branch. Xiao Xun uses its personnel and resources while pursuing the throne, then turns against his father when Prince Xiao Nan attempts to abandon him. The manor becomes the domestic center of a royal family destroyed by its own succession ambitions.
KingdomShuomo Kingdom
Shuomo Kingdom is the foreign northern power that repeatedly threatens the State of Chu's frontier. Its king negotiates with Xiao Xun, Prince Xiao Nan, and Xie Yan Fang while seeking territory and advantage from Chu's internal divisions. The kingdom is also Mu Mian Hong's homeland and the source of the identity that Chu Ling is forced to conceal.
Military BaseShuomo Royal Camp
The Shuomo Royal Camp serves as the command center of the invading king and his heir during the major frontier war. Xie Yan Lai leads a small covert force into enemy territory, kills the royal heir, and captures the Shuomo king. The operation transforms his political standing and allows Chu to negotiate from a position of strength.
