Title: The Night Emperor

Director: Chen Haowei

Starring: Xu Haiqiao, Song Zuer, Wang Zitong, Feilong, He Shuai, Yu Tong, Jiang Qinyun, Liu Guanlin

First broadcast date: August 14, 2018

Streaming platform: Tencent Video

Plot Summary:

Ye Xiaotian, a jailer in the Ministry of Punishments of the Ming Dynasty, accepts a commission to deliver a farewell letter to his hometown. Pursued by the family members who refuse to divide their inheritance, he flees into eastern Guizhou. Meanwhile, Ai Feng, a high-ranking official in the Ministry of War, is dispatched to eastern Guizhou as the newly appointed magistrate of Hu County to investigate the illicit machinations of the powerful nobleman Yang Yinglong—and is assassinated on Yang’s orders. To evade responsibility for the county’s poor public order, Magistrate Hua Qingfeng arranges for Ye Xiaotian to impersonate the deceased magistrate. Though a former jailer with an irreverent, roguish streak, Ye refuses to remain a mere puppet; during his tenure, he cracks down on local tyrants and corrupt gentry, turning Hu County upside down. By a twist of fate, he even assumes the true office of magistrate, thus embarking on his official career. After being promoted to the post of judicial commissioner in Tongren Prefecture, Ye Xiaotian continues to stand apart, refusing to consort with idle, complacent officials who merely occupy their posts. In defense of a young woman unjustly put to death, he angrily executes a pampered, vicious rascal, plunging himself into dire peril—yet winning the heartfelt admiration of the local populace and the praise of a patriotic grand chieftain of Guizhou. Ultimately, he rises to become a regional chieftain himself. Firmly believing that justice must shine throughout the realm, Ye Xiaotian—whose domain, though governed by a chieftain, remains part of the imperial realm—joins forces with the patriotic grand chieftains of Guizhou to curb the ambitious expansionist designs of Yang Yinglong, thereby becoming a steadfast bulwark for the court.