Fang Shiyu (Zhang Weijian) was born in Guangdong in the late Qing Dynasty. He was naughty and clever since he was a child. Under the training of his mother Miao Cuihua, he practiced martial arts. Shiyu was competitive and naughty. He often got into trouble outside, which made the whole city devastated. He often had to be helped by Miao Cuihua. Although his father Fang De knew that Miao Cuihua and her son often got into trouble, they were actually chivalrous and righteous, so he just punished them. One day, Shiyu and the new Hong Xiguan (Fan Shaohuang) had a fight because of a misunderstanding. Fang De felt that he really had no ability to discipline Shiyu, so he sent his son to Hangzhou to study at the Tongtian Academy run by Lei Laohu, because this academy had a close relationship with the court and it would be easy for him to enter the official career in the future. Unexpectedly, during the exam, Shiyu was stubborn and became a vindictive enemy with Yan Yongchun (Li Tingyi), who came to take the exam disguised as a man, and even exposed her identity in public. Later, Shiyu was retaliated by Lei Renwang, the lover of Wing Chun and the nephew of Lei Lao Hu, and was disqualified from the exam. For his father, Shiyu applied for Tongtian Academy again, but unexpectedly, Lei Lao Hu laughed at Fang De for his poor family background and refused to let Shiyu enroll. Shiyu then smashed the plaque of Tongtian Academy, which angered Lei Lao Hu. Later, Shiyu enrolled in Qionghua Academy founded by his father and became classmates with his enemy Hong Xiguan. Just when Shiyu was studying at Qionghua Academy with peace of mind, his classmate Hu Huiqian (played by Zheng Guolin) accepted the benefits of Lei Renwang because his father was seriously ill and urgently needed money, and put the blame on Shiyu for the prank. Huiqian later found his conscience and confessed that Lei Renwang was the mastermind behind the scenes. Thus, the grievances between Shiyu and the Lei family began.