The Legend of He Wenxiu

During the reign of Emperor Shizong of the Ming Dynasty, the official He Shangshu was falsely accused by Yan Song and his entire family was executed. His son He Wenxiu fled alone at night and entered the back garden of the Wang family of Yan Song's party members. Fortunately, he was rescued by Wang Lanying, a daughter of the palace. Unexpectedly, his uncle, who was formerly the magistrate of He County in Haining, was also implicated and sent to the army. When he had no family to visit, he temporarily made a living by selling calligraphy and painting. Zhang Tang, a villainous young man from a wealthy family, was shocked by Lanying's beauty and coveted them. He lured the two of them into the palace and threatened He Wenxiu to divorce his wife and remarry as a fugitive from the imperial court, but he was sternly refused. After the kind-hearted maid Mei Xiang escaped from the clutches of Wang Lanying privately, she was killed by Zhang Tangnu and framed for He Wenxiu. He Wenxiu was convicted of raping and murdering a maid of the Zhang family and was sent to the county government's death row to await death. The Wangzhi County of Haining was shocked to learn that Yan Song had committed crimes in the court and resigned from his post and was imprisoned. He had a premonition of the incident at the court, and considering the official interests of resolving He Shangshu's death, he conspired with Zhang Tang to eliminate He Wenxiu to avoid future troubles. Because the prison chief Wang Yi knew the truth and acted righteously, he and He Wenxiu burned the prison and escaped at night. Zhang Tang heard about Wang Lanying's whereabouts and led a group of people to Yang Mama's teahouse to search. However, he was beaten by Yang Mama, who was skilled in martial arts, and fled in embarrassment. In order to keep Wang Lanying safe, Yang's mother evacuated overnight. Three years later, Yan Song died in prison, and the imperial court selected talents to govern. He Wenxiu took the high school entrance examination, and met his father Zhaoxue, who was named the Jiangnan Patrol Commissioner and returned to the sea.