During the Beiyang government's rule, Wu Qi (Zhang Wen), the son of the warlord Wu Dashuai, who was entrenched in Shanghai, sought help from Ma Zouri (Jiang Wen), a former Qing Dynasty veteran, in order to wash away his shame. After that, Ma Zouri and his childhood friend Xiang Feitian (Ge You), who was a police inspector in the French Concession, jointly planned a large-scale beauty pageant called "Flower Domain Presidential Election", and successfully defended the title with the current president Wan Yanying (Shu Qi), whom Ma had known since childhood. Who knew that at the peak of prosperity and noise, the car of fate suddenly took a sharp turn and drove into the abyss. On an ordinary morning, Wan Yan's body was found in the suburbs. Ma Zouri, who was panicked, found Wu Qi's sister Wu Liu (Zhou Yun) and his mother Qi Laoshi (Hong Huang), hoping that the Marshal would help him wash away the crime of murder, but he accidentally saved Xiang Feitian who was almost killed. Ma, labeled a murderer, flees, and Wu Liu makes a movie about the incident titled "Shooting Ma Zouri". Ma's fate becomes more confusing... This film is adapted from a strange case in the Republic of China, the "Yan Ruisheng Case".