In the middle of the Ming Dynasty, a mine cave in Yuyao, Zhejiang Province collapsed and strange phenomena emerged, which startled both the court and the public. To calm down the situation, the imperial court's cabinet arranged for Hu Shixin, a frustrated and unemployed county magistrate, to lead several marginalized Jinyiwei (imperial guards) to go and investigate.
A mysterious beauty’s severed head appears in the bustling marketplace. A fox spirit, trapped in the treacherous depths of human desire, struggles to escape her fate. When the Judge of the Underworld descends to swap heads and hearts, chaos erupts. A paper doll awakens to life with the final stroke of a brush, a wooden puppet grows a beating heart, and a withered tree stirs with forbidden longing. In this world where the boundaries between flesh and fantasy blur, ancient magic and human folly collide—revealing that even the most lifeless things may hunger for a soul.
90's Beijing Fantasy revolves around a group of six students at a middle school in Beijing in the early 1990s. Against expectation, Li Li Li (Meng Qin) doesn't do well in her middle school entrance exam and thus has to attend a third-class school, which she considers as her death penalty. Luckily, her childhood friend Wang Bo (Jiao Rui) ends up at the same school and becomes her sole comfort. But Li Li has to discover that hooligan Zhao Lei (Zhu Jia Qi), with whom she had an unhappy encounter before, is also in her class. Zhao Lei is set to take revenge against Li Li, but Li Li doesn't concede and strikes back.
On his wedding day, Shi Xiaoguang could only helplessly watch as a mysterious power took his bride Xiaqing, away. Afterwards, he found that no one remembered the existence of “Xiaqing” and he is hunted by this unclear force. Faced with this situation, Shi Xiaoguang slowly began understanding that the world as he knew it had changed.
As the Great Ning Dynasty falls into turmoil, Pei Shenzhi manipulates the late emperor’s edict to place Ning Jinyi on the throne as a puppet ruler. Though she appears obedient, Ning Jinyi secretly builds her power and pushes for reform. Impressed by her intelligence, Pei Shenzhi becomes entangled in her rise as she purges the court.