During the Jiajing reign of the Ming dynasty, Shen Mingyuan, a poor young man from Jiangnan, is blessed with extraordinary talent but plagued by misfortune. He loses his father as a child and his mother in his youth, and lives at the mercy of others, yet never lets go of his ambition to rise to greatness. With his exceptional abilities, he overcomes one challenge after another, places first in the imperial examinations, and enters officialdom.
But beneath the court’s polished surface, dark currents run deep. Zhang Juzheng, the all-powerful Grand Secretary, rules with an iron hand and builds a faction for his own gain. When Shen Mingyuan refuses to be recruited by him, he is demoted to a post in the Hanlin Academy. While organizing the archives, he stumbles upon clues pointing to exam fraud and resolves to investigate the matter to the end.
During his investigation, Shen Mingyuan is repeatedly targeted for assassination, but the wandering heroine Liu Rushuang comes to his aid. Together, they match wits with the powerful and fight back. As the truth gradually comes to light, Shen Mingyuan discovers that the exam fraud is tied to none other than the Grand Secretary’s son…
