Der Kaiserhof zur Zeit Wu Zetians diente als Vorlage für die Verfilmungen um den legendären Richter Di; Wu Zetian wird dort, wie auch in den weiteren Teilen der Filmreihe, von Carina Lau verkörpert.
In year 689 of the Tang Dynasty, Wu Zetian is to be crowned the first Empress in China despite opposition from Tang officials. She has a Buddha figure built overlooking her palace in Luoyang, but an official inspecting the progress mysteriously erupts into flames. Penal officer Pei Donglai and his superior investigate and interrogate the supervising builder, Shatuo, who was formerly imprisoned after he took part in a rebellion. They find nothing and Pei's superior dies soon after erupting into flames.
唐朝麟德年间，唐高宗与武则天强硬派出大军远征，谁知舰队在大海中遇袭，遭到重挫。该事件震惊洛阳，都城百姓狂热祭拜龙王，缭乱众生的“花魁”银睿姬更惹来各方势力觊觎。狄仁杰奉武后之命调查龙王一案，偏巧卷入绑架银睿姬的案件之中。在与劫匪搏杀过程中，狄仁杰遭遇亦敌亦友的大理寺卿尉迟真金，遂被对方投入大牢。银睿姬一案内龙王身影再现，使洛阳上空更添一道疑云。狱中狄仁杰凭借缜密推理博取回纥医工沙陀忠的信任，逃出大牢同查龙王真相。两起案件错综复杂，相互纠缠，引向全然未知的方向。
Following the events of Young Detective Dee: Rise of the Sea Dragon, Di Renjie was appointed to head the Department of Justice and conferred the prestigious "Dragon Taming Mace" by the Emperor Gaozong of Tang. Hence, he became the biggest obstacle to Wu Zetian's quest for ultimate authority. Empress Wu assigns Yuchi Zhenjin to lead a group of sorcery masters to take the Mace from Detective Dee. Unknown to all, using the Wu-Dee conflict as a cover, an ancient sorcerous sect has been in the background planning to exact revenge on the Tang Empire and destroy all those who come in their way.<ref name="July 27"/>