Gao Sheng (Chow Yun-fat) is both a literary and martial artist, and is Emperor Qianlong's (Wei Junjie) personal troubleshooter. No matter how big the problem is, it can be easily solved by him. Sheng goes to Yangzhou to find Ruyi (Yang Yi), the emperor's beloved, and discovers that she has been bought by Su San (Patsy Chan), the owner of the Wan Hua Building, the first brothel in Yangzhou. On the surface, the Wan Hua Building is a place for prostitutes, but in reality, it is a shelter for orphaned girls. Sheng does not know this background and thinks that San forces innocent girls into prostitution. When Yi becomes involved in a murder case, San, known as the "chivalrous prostitute," spares no effort to save her, and only then does Sheng understand who San really is. Later, when Yi returns to her hometown to visit her father, she gets entangled in another murder case. Sheng successfully clears Yi of her charges, but inadvertently discovers the mystery of Qianlong's origins, putting his life in danger... Veteran producer Philip So's "philosophy of making TV dramas":