Xin Zha Mei An 新铡美案

Description:

Xin Zha Mei An tells the story of the Great Song era. Chen Shi-Mei (Ding Zhi-Cheng), a man from Hejian, and Qin Xiang-Lian (Hao Lei) grew up together and pledged to love each other unto death. Yet the Qin family, disdaining Shi-Mei for his humble origins, refused to give their daughter to him and arranged a match of their own. In desperation, Shi-Mei and Xiang-Lian agreed to elope. But that very night, in the Jinyun embroidery workshop where they met, a bloody tragedy unfolded: their friend Xiao Xia and her husband's entire family were senselessly murdered. It turned out that all of this was the work of Guo Huai (Fu Biao), the chief eunuch of the imperial palace. Years earlier, Consort Liu, vying for favor with Consort Li, conspired with Guo Huai and Grand Preceptor Pang to steal Consort Li's newborn child and burn Consort Li alive in the cold palace, after which Consort Liu became mother to the present emperor. Now a handkerchief that had slipped out of the Jinyun embroidery workshop convinced Guo Huai that Consort Li was still alive. The bloodshed at the workshop brought Chen Shi-Mei's origins to light: from his master, the elder Jing Tong, he learned that he was the sole surviving son of the loyal official Chen Zhong-Fei, who had died in a desolate field years before while protecting Consort Li. At the elder Jing Tong's entreaty, Qin's father consented to the marriage of Shi-Mei and Xiang-Lian. Yet on Shi-Mei's way to the capital for the examinations, Guo Zheng and his men forged an imperial edict and slaughtered Qin Xiang-Lian's entire household. When Shi-Mei heard the terrible news, he swore revenge. He passed the examinations, befriended the emperor's sister, Princess Zi Yu (He Lin), and resolved to use the power of the imperial house against Grand Preceptor Pang. But fate played a cruel trick: on the very day of Chen Shi-Mei's wedding to the princess, Qin Xiang-Lian, worn out by hardship, arrived in Bianliang with her daughter to seek her husband. The situation changed at once: Grand Preceptor Pang lodged an accusation against Chen Shi-Mei, demanding the death penalty for deceiving the sovereign.