During the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty, Shen Mingyuan, a boy from a poor family in the south of the Yangtze River, was gifted with extraordinary talents since childhood, but had a bad fate. He lost his father when he was young, and his mother when he was young. He was left in the care of others, but he never changed his ambition. With his extraordinary talent, he passed all the tests, became the top student in high school, and entered the official career.
However, there was an undercurrent surging above the court. Zhang Juzheng, the chief minister who has all the power in the government and the public, dominates the sky with one hand and forms cliques for personal gain. Shen Mingyuan refused to win over the chief minister and was demoted to the Hanlin Academy to compile. While sorting out files, he accidentally discovered clues of imperial examination fraud and was determined to get to the bottom of it.
During the investigation, Shen Mingyuan was repeatedly assassinated, but fortunately he was helped by Liu Rushuang, a knight-errant in the world. The two join hands to battle wits and courage with the powerful. As the truth gradually emerged, Shen Mingyuan discovered that the son of the chief minister was actually involved behind this imperial examination fraud case...
