He was born out of wedlock and his father was a high-ranking Champan official while his mother was a lowly servant. To protect the honor of his father's family, he was abandoned as a baby and tucked underneath an apricot tree. He was given the name Iljimae (A branch of Apricot Tree). Iljimae was adopted by a family who lived in the Qing Kingdom. After tracing his roots back to Korea, his father rejects him once more. With a heavy heart, he returns to his country and unleashes his anger upon the ruling class to fight their injustice and tyranny for the sake of the commoners. Wherever he appears to uphold justice, he leaves behind a single branch of an apricot tree... Wol-hee is the one woman in Iljimae's life who reconnects him to the world as he lives an isolated existence and hides his face behind a mask to be a hero to the people.