Set in a Shandong village during the crucial Menglianggu Campaign between communists and nationalists in 1947, the film follows six women from various families as the (largely offscreen) civil war impacts their feudal existence.
Men Sheng (Li Lei) may be constantly getting into trouble because he speaks up when he shouldn't, but he's far from stupid. It's just that he has a lot to say, and says it incessantly. However, when his family runs into trouble, the young chatterbox manages to sort things out. His father is the village treasurer, and though he has only been accused of embezzling, the villagers have already ostracized him and everyone in his clan, without giving him a chance to clear his name or be properly convicted. Some other family difficulties set village tongues wagging, too, but Men Sheng, whose nickname is "Chatterbox," soon sets them wagging in the right direction.
Song-lian perde o pai e as dificuldades financeiras a obrigam a abandonar os estudos e a se tornar concubina de um homem rico. Ao mudar-se para sua mansão ela descobre que o senhor já possui outras três esposas, e que escolhe todos os dias uma delas para passar a noite, colocando lanternas vermelhas na porta de seu quarto. Aos poucos Song-lian vai começar a entender as intrigas e sabotagens, o jogo que acontece entre as mulheres que competem pela atenção do marido.
The Public Security Bureau intercept a telegram notifying foreign agents to retrieve the "110 secret". Shi Yan, head of the Reconnaissance Section, starts a campaign of counter-espionage, but one of his agents is soon killed on board a train.
