The plot is based on Cao Yu's 1934 drama Thunderstorm (pinyin: Lei Yu), but is set in the imperial court of the Later Tang Dynasty in the year 928, which was during the turbulent Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period. Emperor Ping, a man of humbler origins as an army captain who rose through the ranks and ascended the throne by abandoning his first wife and marrying Empress Phoenix, rules the royal family with an iron hand. The Empress, fully aware of her husband's past ambitions and misdeeds, which included assassinating his first wife and her family, was devoid of love and had an illicit affair with Crown Prince Wan for several years. Prince Wan, increasingly filled with guilt over the relationship, maintains a secret relationship with the Imperial Doctor's daughter, Jiang Chan, to the fury of the Empress. Disinterested in politics and the throne, he dreams to leave the palace with Chan....
