Xiqu

Dou’e is sold to the Cai’s family as a child bride. Zhang Luer, who craves for Dou’e’s beauty, makes a marriage proposal to her. Being rejected, Luer resentfully sends his man to mess up the bridge. To farewell her husband Cai Changzong, who is leaving home for the imperial examination three days after the marriage, Dou’e makes him a gift of an embroidered sachet. Yet, Changzong goes missing in water once he steps on the broken bridge.

Dou’e and her mother-in-law Madame Cai rely on each other to live on, and keeps declining Luer’s marriage proposal. To get rid of Madame Cai, Luer attempts to murder her with a poisoned soup; mistakenly kills his own mother. Luer bribes Qian Mu, the County Magistrate, into framing up Madame Cai. To bear the torture for her aged mother-in-law, Dou’e replaces Madame Cai and is sentenced to death.

On the other hand, Changzong is saved from the water and gets the first rank in the imperial examination. The Emperor assigns Changzong as the province governor. Upon returning home, Changzong passes the execution ground. While a heavy snow descends in June, Changzong notices it as an omen of injustice. Thus, he orders to bring Dou’e’s case to trial again. In the court, he guides the mute maid Lixiang to be a witness against Luer. Dou’e’s crime is cleared and Luer is brought to justice eventually. The family reunite happily.