The Secret of the Bai Manor
"Ding Li, a poor laborer working on the docks, unexpectedly encounters a mysterious old man on the verge of death. Before dying, the old man reveals that a treasure hoard worth a nation's wealth is hidden within the Bai Family Manor. Intent on finding it, Ding Li deliberately gets close to Bai Weiwei, the young mistress of the Bai family. After numerous attempts, he successfully becomes her fiancé and is brought back to the manor. Once there, Ding Li spares no effort in searching for the treasure. However, he soon realizes that something is amiss with Yue Ting, the widow of Bai Weiwei's father and Weiwei's stepmother. This young stepmother seems unusually interested in him, hinting and testing him at every turn. Through his own investigations and an old treasure map left by the mysterious old man, Ding Li discovers that the final location marked on the map points to the peony garden in Yue Ting's backyard. Thus, Ding Li also begins to intentionally approach Yue Ting. He manages to obtain some herbal medicine from her that prevents pollen allergies. Under the cover of night, he secretly infiltrates the peony garden, confident of success. But as a golden glint catches his eye, he suddenly hallucinates a man-eating flower swallowing him whole, causing him to faint. He later learns this terrifying vision was a hallucination triggered by a severe pollen allergy. Undeterred, Ding Li continues his quest for the treasure. His growing greed eventually causes Yue Ting to drop her façade and turn against him completely. Finally, Ding Li locates the so-called treasure, only to find it isn't the gold and jewels he desired... but rather, Yue Ting's family heirloom: a secret recipe for curing epidemics. It is revealed that Yue Ting entered the Bai family as the young stepmother to repay a life debt to the late Master Bai, silently guarding the family's assets out of gratitude. This noble intention, however, led to misunderstandings from Bai Weiwei. After uncovering the truth about Yue Ting and with a plague breaking out, Ding Li, Bai Weiwei, and Yue Ting join forces. They use the secret recipe to treat the afflicted, and in the process, the long-held misunderstanding between Weiwei and her stepmother is finally resolved."
