At the Song Emperor’s Spring Festival banquet, the talented Liu Yu’e beats all men in a riddle and the emperor rewards her a jade coin. She gives it to her husband Chen Jichang. Su Qincao, an unwilling candidate for the emperor’s harem, infiltrates into the palace as a songtress and seeks help from her cousin Su Dongpo.

Dongpo invites Jichang to Lanting to enjoy the spring landscape. Yu’e makes Jichang vow to the rosewood stick for fidelity and sends Liu Xiang to monitor him in secret. For avenging the insult of the salary-cut punishment proposed by Yu’e at the Emperor’s banquet, Dongpo advises Qincao to be Jichang’s concubine and ask for the jade coin as an engagement token. Liu Xiang discloses all these to Yu’e for a generous reward.

Back home, the infuriated Yu’e beats Jichang with the rosewood stick and orders him to kneel and repent by a willowy pond. Dongpo seeks the chance to instigate Jichang to divorce Yu’e. When she goes to the court for justice, Yu’e’s uncle Gui Yushu tries to punish her for being a shrew. However, he himself is ordered to kneel by his wife.
Jichang and Yushu then go to beg the emperor for help. The emperor orders Yu’e to let Jichang keep Qincao as his concubine but she chooses to take arsenic instead. Fortunately, the Empress has replaced the poison with vinegar. Finally the couple is reconciled and reunited.

At the Flower Festival, Liu Yueying falls in love with Bian Ji at first sight. Chunlan, her maid, helps match them, but servant Meng Liu sends the invitation letter by mistake to Zhou Tong, a rogue, instead of Bian Ji. Chunlan comes by boat at night to visit Bian Ji and advises him to dress as a woman when visiting Yueying. As Yueying can’t finish Bian Ji’s embroidered shoes in time, Chunlan gets a pair of new shoes from Madame Liu by a trick.

By mistake, Zhou Tong grabs Bian Ji home when Bian Ji sneaks in Yueying’s house as a flower-girl. Fortunately, Bian Ji flees before the wedding night and goes for the imperial examination. A year later, Zhou Tong comes for Yueying again and finds that the bride Liu Jialing took away is in fact his sister Zhou Yulou. Meanwhile, Bian Ji comes home as the top scorer in the imperial examination. After teaching Zhou Tong a lesson and expressing his gratitude to Chunlan for being his match-maker, Bian Ji and
Yueying become a happy couple finally.

The incompetence of the emperor of the Ming Dynasty causes domestic troubles and aggravates external threats. The family of General Zhong Yujun, who is guarding the frontier, is loyal to the country. His elder son, Xiaoquan, is skilled in both civil and military affairs. Suspecting the emperor’s father-in-law of having secret dealings with Xiliao, Xiaoquan waits for his twin brother Xiaoyi to find out the truth through spying on him. Thinking that Xiaoquan is too cowardly to fight, the general orders him to lead the troops to the battlefield. Tipped off about an ambush against Xiaoquan, Xiaoyi hastens to his brother’s rescue. Despite his best efforts, Xiaoquan is defeated, and further encounters an ambush. Fortunately, the dispatch arrives in time to rescue him.

The emperor’s father-in-law speaks ill of Xiaoquan, so the emperor orders him to return to the capital immediately or be court-martialed. The emperor’s father-in-law arrives with a gold plate that signifies the emperor’s order and threatens to put Xiaoquan’s entire family to death unless he returns. At his audience with the incompetent emperor, Xiaoquan loses his post because of the father-in-law’s slander. His father, also fooled by the rumour that his son’s recklessness is the cause of the invasion, raises his sabre to Xiaoquan. The emperor’s father-in-law comes with an order from the emperor to execute Xiaoquan. Although Xiaoyi has finally secured evidence of the father-in-law’s treachery, it is too late—his brother has been executed. Xiaoyi kills the culprit with his sabre to avenge his brother’s death.

Wang Ruilan, daughter of the Minister of War, is separated from her mother during the war and meets the cultivated talent Jiang Shilong one day in the wilderness. They fall in love during the journey and Ruilan gives Shilong her hairpin as a token of marriage.
On the other hand, Madame Wang meets and adopts Shilong’s sister Jiang Ruilian. Ruilan and Shilong take refuge at where Qin Xingfu stays and get married. However, Ruilan’s snobbish father, Wang Zhen, separates the couple. Grieved, Shilong tries to drown himself in river. Madame Bian saves and adopts him.

Wang Zhen is promoted to prime minister three years later and he intends to marry Ruilan and Ruilian to the best two candidates in the imperial examination. In fact, they are Shilong and Xingfu under new names. Shilong and Ruilan go to the Xuanmiao Temple to mourn their beloved one before the wedding. They meet again at the Moon Pavilion and give the snobbish Wang Zhen a good lesson. The two pairs of lovers are finally reunited.

On New Year’s Eve, Li Hanyi tells the flower girl Shen Juxiang that she will be rich and famous. Later, when Juxiang is cheating Princess Gui Yanshang, Prince Gui Shouling spots her and offers her the opportunity to learn to sing and dance with Sanniang at the institution. Meanwhile, Hanyi is not only given some money by Cuihuan to assist his study, but also admired by Yanshang. Ignorant of the fact that Juxian is his benefactor, he insults Juxian by showing off his wealth at the institution. Though they have all the misunderstandings cleared afterwards, Shouling comes for Juxiang with betrothal gifts.

Shouling compels Juxiang to marry him. Besides sending Hanyi to Suzhou under escort, he further instructs his student Xie Baotong to harm Hanyi. However, Servant Wu Zhongyong, who writes the letter for Shouling, is barely literate and makes many mistakes. Thus, Baotong mistakes Juxiang as Shouling’s foster daughter; and in order to suck up to Shouling, he asks Juxiang to be his sworn sister and even presides over the wedding for her and Hanyi.

Shocked at seeing Hanyi and Juxiang come back as newlywed, Shouling finally realizes the mistakes Zhongyong has made. Quoting Juxiang’s poem, that is however a satirical one, on praising Du Juanhong, Zhongyong persuades Shouling to marry her instead. Shouling is outraged when he finds out that Juanhong is in fact very ugly!

Yu Xuanji and Wen Zhang is a loving couple, secretly expecting a baby. To save her wandering lover from prison, Xuanji insists on selling the property despite her father’s disagreement. Li Yi, who admires her talents so much, offers help to Xuanji. Leaving the prison Zhang makes a visit to Xuanji, yet being driven out by her father. As Yi’s father is critically ill, Yi earnestly requests Xuanji to marry him.

Xuanji gives birth to Zhang’s baby right after the marriage. Luckily, Yi shows understanding for her situation. Surprised at his lover’s marriage, Zhang tries to get back the token of love through the lover’s maid Lu Qiao, who has loved him secretly for long. Taking return of token as an excuse, Qiao tempts Zhang with wine and her beauty. Yet Xuanji just returns home and finds out their relationship. Feeling regret, Zhang mistakenly kills the maid and gets prisoned again.

Xuanji moves to a Buddist nunnery, living as a recluse with her daughter Xiaoyan. After 14 years, Yi gets the first rank in the imperial examination. Xuanji rejects Yi’s love and allows Xiaoyan to reunite with her father, Zhang. Eventually Xuanji ends all the troubles from love with her death.

In the Spring and Autumn Period of Chinese history, General Tang Jiao of the state of Chu goes to war with the King of Chu and returns triumphant. Both he and the King’s brother-in-law, Xiang Xiang,love Yuji. They visit her at the same time and have a quarrel. Knowing that Xiang is wicked, Yuji urges Tang Jiao to marry her as soon as possible. Her brother, Yucheng,returns from the court and reprimands his sister for offending Xiang. When the King pays her a personal visit and chooses her as his concubine, she has no choice but to refuse Tang’s offer.

The King invites his ministers to a banquet on Jian Terrace, where Tang Jiao tries to drown his sorrows in liquor. Suddenly a gust of wind blows out the candles. Enraged by Yuji’s betrayal, Tang takes out his dagger to stab her but accidentally touches the concubine sitting beside him. In the dark, the concubine takes off Tang’s hat and reports the misdeed to the King. Thinking that the transgressor is drunk and has no malicious intentions, the King orders all those wearing hats with red tassels to take them off before the candles are lit again. Thus the banquet comes to be called “the Hatless Gathering”.

When the state of Jin invades Chu, the King personally leads his troops against the enemy. The general of Jin is such a brave and skillful warrior that he lays a tight siege to the troops of Chu. Tang Jiao leads a group of soldiers to their rescue, despite his sorrow over the encounter with Yuji.

Zhao Ruzhou, a talented scholar from Shandong, falls in love with a famous songstress Xie Suqiu through exchanging letters and poems for three years. Qian Jizhi arranges them to meet in a temple but, Wang Fu, the Prime Minister, sends for Suqiu to perform at his feast and forces her to lead his 120 concubines to the state of Jin as a flattery. Ruzhou comes to see Suqiu but is expelled by Wang Fu. Ruzhou and Suqiu’s meeting becomes futile.

With the help from Liu Gongdao, one of Wang Fu’s advisors, Suqiu flees by using the dead body of Feng Feiyan, who has poisoned herself, as a cover. Ruzhou follows the procession and is saddened by the news of Suqiu’s death. Suqiu and Ruzhou then seek refuge at Jizhi’s house respectively. One night, Ruzhou, being drunk, chases a red butterfly all the way to the Red Pear Yard and meets Suqiu. With Jizhi’s advice and Ruzhou’s propects in mind, Suqiu restrains herself from disclosing her true identity, but leaving Ruzhou a red pear flower as a metaphor for her love.

Later, Suqiu is betrayed by Shen Yongxin and taken back by Wang Fu. Fortunately, Ruzhou comes out first in the imperial examination and under the imperial order, goes to Wang Fu’s residence to investigate his bribery to the state of Jin. Surprised to see red pear flowers decorated everywhere, Ruzhou reunites with Suqiu finally and wins both Justice and Love.

Wei Chonghui is a descendant of General Han Xin. After Empress Lu gives the order to exterminate the Han clan, members of the clan changed their family name to Wei and disperse. Hidden in a bamboo forest, a young son of the clan, Chonghui, is raised by Gui Yuchang. Lu Huailiang is ordered by the Empress to persecute Han Xin’s descendants. However, Huailiang’s daughter Daoci and Chonghui have had an innocent affection for each other since childhood, not knowing the feud between the Wei’s and the Lu’s.

One day, the patriarch of the Wei’s clan, Gui Yuchang, tells Chonghui about his family’s history. Chonghui receives from Yuchang the Merciless Sword as well as the task of reviving and reuniting his clan. The clan raises troops and attacks Lu’s camp; Lu’s and the Prince of Ji join together to resist the assault. The Prince forces Daoci, the daughter of Huailiang, to infiltrate the enemy’s camp on the pretext of pursuing peace to wait for a chance to assassinate the commander.

When they recognize each other in the camp, Chonghui and Daoci find themselves torn between their families’ feud and their own love. For the sake of Daoci, Chonghui agrees to surrender to the Prince. The Prince intends to eliminate the troops of the Wei’s and the Lu’s. Refusing to surrender, Yuchang leads the Wei troops against the Prince, only to be defeated. Fortunately, Yuchang is rescued by Chonghui. Realizing his mistake, Huailiang, with the Wei’s, attacks and kills the Prince. Yuchang is seriously wounded, but agrees to a marriage between Chonghui and Daoci before she dies. The Wei’s and the Lu’s are reconciled at last.