Zhong Lie Tu plot
In the waning days of the Ming dynasty, on the south coast of China, the Ming warriors face off against Chinese-Japanese pirates. The military attacks on the pirates prove expensive and inefficient, and the weak Emperor Jiaqing sends strategist Yu Dayou to the arena to bring the conflict to a peaceful conclusion. Yu Dayou learns that a local official is conspiring with the pirates. One of Yu's associates, Wu, and his wife Ruoshi, pretend to be mercenaries who want to betray Yu and get into the pirates' headquarters.