Jia Zhigang

A serial murder case rocks a small town in China's semi-rural Hebei province. The film explores the case from the viewpoint of a teenage schoolgirl, Jing (Su Xiaotong), who becomes entangled with the case while struggling with her own burgeoning sexuality. In the face of police ineptitude and authoritarianism, and the restrictive, conservative mentality of the town's locals, Jing begins to develop her own theory about the case.

The series was adapted from Eryue He's historical novels, which are loosely based on historical events in the reigns of the Kangxi and Yongzheng Emperors in the Qing dynasty (1644–1911).