十五貫

豬肉店東主尤葫蘆向大姨借得十五貫錢，半醉的他對繼女蘇戍娟戲言錢乃賣女所得，說罷上床便睡。戍娟情急下忙出門找姨母相助。當晚尤葫蘆被流氓婁阿鼠入室謀財害命。戍娟不知所蹤而受嫌。捕快夏總甲追蹤而至時，戍娟正與客商熊友蘭同行。總甲以為兩人私奔，又在友蘭身上搜出剛好十五貫錢，兩人便被押回衙門，更被屈打成招，判斬。知府況鍾奉命監斬，聞蘇、熊高呼冤枉，乃仔細詳查，發覺果有疑點。況鍾以官職性命作擔保，向上司求得半個月時間翻案。

在案發現場實地查勘後，況鍾鎖定婁阿鼠為嫌犯。他假扮測字先生，成功套問阿鼠，又派人尾隨阿鼠，搜得證物。最後經況鍾重審，真相大白，阿鼠認罪，蘇、熊兩人獲釋。

Fifteen Strings of Copper Coins

Butcher Yau borrows fifteen strings of copper coins from his aunt. Half-drunk, the butcher plays a joke on his stepdaughter, Shujuan, by saying that he has sold her for the money, and then he goes to sleep. Desperate, Shujuan leaves the house to seek help from her aunt. That night, hooligan Lou A-Shu breaks into the house, steals the fifteen stringed copper coins, and kills Yau. Shujuan, who is away, becomes the suspect.

Constable Xia spots Shujuan with merchant Xiong. Xia thinks the two are trying to escape and finds exactly fifteen strings of coins on Xiong. After being taken to the yamen (government office), the two confess under torture and are sentenced to death by decapitation.

District Magistrate Kuang is assigned to supervise the execution. Hearing Shujuan and Xiong’s cries of innocence, Kuang reopens the case. Giving his official rank and life as a pledge, District Magistrate Kuangobtains two weeks from his superior to reverse the verdict.

After an investigation into the crime, Kuang believes that Lou A-Shu is the real criminal. Dressed as a fortune-teller, Kuang makes A-Shu reveal the whole story. After sending his men after A-shu to obtain evidence, Kuang retries the case and reveals the truth.