孟麗君才名遠播,引得兩門望族求婚。劉奎璧以一箭之差而敗,皇甫少華得中雀屏。劉奎璧之父捷心有不甘,設計陷害皇甫家,少華出走。劉家乘機再向麗君逼婚,麗君不允,由映雪冒名頂替。映雪在成婚之夜襲擊劉奎璧後投昆明湖,幸為丞相所救認為義女。麗君出走易名改裝,以酈君玉之名在京赴試,得中會元,被丞相招?映雪之婿。後酈君玉再中狀元,官居丞相,任武舉考官。少華應試,得中武科狀元。少華任帥出征邊塞凱旋而歸,在麗君幫助下陳情始末,洗清皇甫家冤屈。劉捷則因通敵等事被奏劾下獄。酈君玉易笄而弁為皇帝察知,將之強留天香館欲逼真相。皇帝為麗君才貌傾倒,常思納之為妃。幸得太后認作義女,方絕君王添花之想;麗君亦免於刑咎得與少華成婚。
The Romantic Emperor
Meng Lijun is so celebrated for her talents that two families of distinction have proposed marriage to her. A contest between the suitors is arranged to determine who will have Ligun as his wife. Liu Kuibi loses the archery competition by one arrow’s count to Shaohua. Begrudging Shaohua his victory,Kuibi’s father Jiesurrounds Shaohua’s home, but Shaohua escapes. The Lius then try to force Lijun and Kuibi to marry. Unwilling to comply, Lijun hasYingxue take her place.
On the wedding night, Yingxue assaults Kuibi and tries to drown herself in a lake. Yingxue is then rescued by the prime minister, who adopts her as his daughter. Disguising herself as a man with the pseudonym Li Junyu, Lijun leaves home. The talented woman takes the metropolitan civil service examination in the capital and comes out first on the list. Recognizing her achievement, the prime minister ties the knot between his adopted daughter and the woman in disguise. Later, having come out, again, first in the highest civil service exam, Lijun is appointed prime minister and assigned to be in charge of the military service exam. Shaohua takes the exam and comes out first.
Appointed to the position of general, Shaohua leads his troops to the frontier and returns triumphant. WithLijun’s help, Shaohua reveals his grievances to the emperor, who then clears his family’s name. The emperor charges the elder Liu with enemy collaboration and sends him to prison. Catching Lijun when she takes off her hairpin and puts on a man’s hat, the emperor confines her to Tianxiang House and tries to extort the truth from her. Admiring her beauty and talent, the emperor wants to make Lijun his concubine, but he has to relinquish his ambition when the empress dowager adopts Lijun as a god-daughter. Lijun is acquitted and allowed to marry Shaohua.