What happens when a disgraced physician, a runaway noblewoman, and a treasure hunter collide over a lethal secret? The new historical mystery drama Treasure at Dawn (天书黎明) plunges its audience into a world where medicine is a weapon, trust is a liability, and a single artifact can unravel an empire. Starring Li Hongyi (李宏毅) as the ostracized doctor Fu Sheng (符生), Su Xiaotong (苏晓彤) as the cunning princess Wen Jue (文珏), and Yu Chengen as the ambitious Gu Tian (顾天), the series opens with a massacre that sparks a dangerous investigation.
In a remote county, a medical hall is wiped out by poison, and the eccentric Fu Sheng becomes the prime suspect. His only path to redemption? Perform a groundbreaking cesarean section (剖腹产) to save a dying mother while racing against time to uncover a conspiracy that leads to the powerful Jibei Prince's Manor (济北王府). At the heart of the chaos is a mystical jade plate (玉盘), an object so coveted it leaves a trail of bodies in its wake.
The Outcast's Gambit
Branded a "poison madman" for his unorthodox methods, Fu Sheng lives on society's fringes. When the entire Baiyun Medical Hall (白云医堂) perishes, the county magistrate, eager for a quick resolution, seizes him as the perfect scapegoat. Fu Sheng's fate seems sealed until a dramatic interruption: the magistrate's own wife suffers a catastrophic labor. With no other option, Fu Sheng proposes the unheard-of procedure of caesarean section. His success stays the execution, but it earns him a precarious bargain—he must find the real killer.
This mission attracts unwanted partners. Wen Jue, the princess disguised as a man, volunteers to monitor him, her own hidden agenda tied to the political shadows of the prince's mansion. Meanwhile, Gu Tian, a man driven by treasure, offers assistance. His true goal is to locate the jade plate he believes is hidden in Fu Sheng's medicine chest. An uneasy alliance forms, each member using the investigation to further their own ends.
Fu Sheng's personal quest is inflamed by the discovery that the poisoned herbs came from a batch purchased by his late father. This thread pulls him into the treacherous black market of the East Bazaar (东市), where he learns the shipment was hijacked by "bandits." The search for his father's true cause of death and the medical hall's murderer becomes dangerously intertwined, pointing toward forces far greater than a simple act of malice.
A Web of Greed
The plot thickens with the arrival of Ruan Changfeng (阮长风), a ruthless operative whose methods are as lethal as any toxin. He is the true "bandit," having slaughtered not only the Baiyun hall but other clinics in his systematic hunt for the jade plate. Fu Sheng and Gu Tian, now with shared intelligence, set a trap. Using a hidden mechanism in Fu Sheng's chest, they capture Ruan Changfeng, only to face a stark reality upon delivering him to the authorities.
The power of the Jibei Prince's Manor is absolute. When Ruan Changfeng produces its token, the obsequious Magistrate Yang (杨县令) immediately frees him, demonstrating that justice bows to nobility. Fu Sheng's accusation—that Ruan stole a deadly poison—crumbles when the substance is proven harmless, deepening the mystery of his father's demise. The political shield around Ruan seems impenetrable.
Yet, in a twist of poetic justice, greed consumes its own servant. As Magistrate Yang fawningly serves tea to Ruan Changfeng, he himself collapses, poisoned. His final words, "No one cuts off my path to riches," echo as a warning. His death reveals that the conspiracy is a nest of vipers, where allies betray each other, and the pursuit of the jade plate is a fatal game for all involved. With the magistrate gone and Ruan still at large, Fu Sheng, Wen Jue, and Gu Tian are left in a more perilous position than ever, their next move critical to survival.
