During the reign of King Jeongjo of Joseon, Kim Yoon-hee (Park Min-young), the daughter of a fallen noble, disguised herself as a man and wrote articles for a living to make a living. In order to avoid the fate of being married off to pay off debts, Yoon-hee took the risk of taking the imperial examination for someone else. By chance, she became estranged from Lee Sun-jun (Park Yoo-chun), the son of the left prime minister. Later, with his secret help, she was selected into Sungkyunkwan in the name of her sickly younger brother Yoon-sik. Yoon-hee, who was filled with sorrow and joy, was cautious in her words and deeds in the museum every day. Her outstanding talent gradually revealed itself like the luster of pearls, but she also attracted the jealousy of the group led by Ha In-soo, the chairman of the council, and was often in crisis. But Yoon-hee always turned danger into safety, not only winning the name of "big thing", but also forming a dazzling group of four people with like-minded people with her happy enemy, Yoon-hee, "unruly" Moon Jae-shin (Yoo Ah-in), and "female forest" Gu Yong-ha (Song Joong-ki). The students' lives are in turmoil, and the political situation outside the academy is also turbulent. The masked knight "Hongbishu" is determined to expose the scandal of the government, and the "Golden Vine Lyrics" he has been looking for involves a shocking secret related to Yunxi's life experience... This drama is adapted from the novel "Sungkyunkwan Romance" by Korean writer Zheng Enque.