Temptress

On the day Emperor Puyi abdicates, 13-year-old Zhongliang arrives at the Pang clan estate to live with his sister Xiuyi and her husband Zhengda. He is treated as a servant and pulled into Zhengda's opium-fueled world, hinting at potential abuse. The scene sets up the power dynamics that will shape his early years.

After six months of mistreatment, Zhongliang escapes from the Pang estate, leaving behind the life of a servant. He abandons the oppressive environment and seeks a new path away from Zhengda’s influence. The escape marks the end of his childhood under the Pang family's rule.

Ten years pass and Zhongliang has become a gigolo who seduces rich married women for his boss Biggie. The operation relies on a staged set-up where partners burst in, feign murder, and demand blackmail to protect reputations. His life becomes defined by manipulation and the lure of wealth.

Zhengda has been ill for years and cannot move or speak, so when her father dies, Ruyi is named head of the Pang family. The elders oppose female leadership, insisting women are weak, and Duanwu is installed to assist her. Ruyi begins to exercise real authority within the estate despite the resistance.

Ruyi uses her power to expel her father's and brother's concubines, asserting control over the estate. The elders punish Duanwu for supporting her, beating him for a perceived lack of manliness. The clash highlights the tension between tradition and Ruyi's emerging authority.

Biggie tasks Zhongliang with seducing Ruyi to gain the Pang family's money. During his return, he encounters his sister at the estate, who claims he owes her for helping him escape years ago. This reunion rekindles old debts and complicates his mission.

Ruyi falls in love with Zhongliang, and she seduces Duanwu as 'practice' for the man she loves. Zhongliang contemplates taking her away but ultimately cannot proceed and returns to Shanghai alone. The emotional tangle threatens the plan to secure her marriage and wealth.

To salvage his standing, Zhongliang agrees to the swindle involving the Zephyr Lane woman and is drawn back toward modern Shanghai life. Biggie orchestrates the setup, and Zhongliang’s scam is witnessed by Ruyi and Duanwu as they accompany him to the city.

The Zephyr Lane woman dies after questioning Zhongliang’s feelings, and Biggie notes that Zhongliang is now permanently ruined by the publicity. Ruyi later confronts Zhongliang in a dance hall, asking whether he loved her or the other woman, but he refuses to answer. The emotional heat intensifies as loyalties fracture.

When Ruyi returns to the boarding room in Shanghai where she shares with Duanwu, he rapes her. The traumatic act compounds the sense of betrayal and powerlessness that have defined the relationships around the Pang clan. The incident marks a brutal turn in the entanglements of the characters.

Back at the Pang estate, Ruyi’s former betrothal Jingyun returns, reviving the old arrangement. Zhongliang returns and desperately tries to win her back, but she declares she no longer loves him and will marry Jingyun. The emotional toll deepens as competing loyalties collide.

Zhongliang poisons Zhengda’s pipe with arsenic, and with his sister’s help, also poisons Ruyi’s pipe. He tries to intervene when Ruyi takes the poison but arrives too late. The next morning, as he plans to leave on a ship, he is shot dead at the dock.

Duanwu is proclaimed the new head of the Pang clan, while Ruyi remains confined to a wheelchair, the film underscoring a long arc of inherited power and confinement. The clan transitions to a new generation that bears the scars of the previous ordeals. A somber closure settles over the family’s fate.

The film closes with a brief flashback: Zhongliang, Duanwu, and Ruyi as children standing in a doorway on the night of the Emperor’s abdication. The image bookends the story, emphasizing cycles of power, abuse, and longing that defined their lives. It ties the opening moment to the repercussions that follow across decades.