Our story derives from the period 1644, when the Ming dynasty was threatened with destruction. This forced the emperor to issued a new decree by which the prince and heir to the throne has to leave territory due to threat placed on their lives. Chong Zen punished escape persecution in Nanjing. This course takes the emperor, in the hope that one day the prince would return and take his rightful place on the throne. In the meantime empire and dynasty face complete destruction. On all sides they bid to mercilessly destroy all enemies that comes to hand.
In 1930's Shanghai, Wu Sunpu, chief executive of the Shanghai Yuhua Silk Company, faces many struggles: with plant workers, with strikers, others in his industry, and most of all with bourgeois comprador Zhao Botao. Capitalists and other figures in Shanghai's industrial and commercial community come and go. The strategy finally comes down between Wu and Zhao. Zhao plans to take over Wu Sunpu's plant with support from Americans. Wu faces a choice of surrender to Zhao or bankruptcy. He considers suicide, but decides to go on vacation with his wife on Mount Lushan. When they leave Shanghai at midnight, Wu paces the deck of the ship, reviewing his life and fate.
Nurse Lin is hired by a wealthy family to care for Mr. Kao, who has lost his mind since his daughter, Ling Kuan, died. As Lin resembles Ling Kuan, her nanny asks Lin to impersonate her to help Mr. Kao recover, which works well. Lin then uncovers a secret: Ling Kuan had loved a music teacher, Qiufan, but her cousin, Yiu Tong, envious of Mr. Kao’s wealth, slandered Qiufan. One night, Yiu Tong attacked Qiufan and attempted to assault Ling Kuan, accidentally killing her. To cover up the crime, he staged her death as a suicide. Later, Nurse Lin and Qiufan, pretending to be ghosts, trick Yiu Tong into confessing. In a panic, Yiu Tong escapes, but his mistress Huigu causes a fire that kills them both. Disheartened by the truth and his burning home, Mr. Kao walks into the flames.