With or Without You

SU DONGPO, talented scholar of the Song dynasty, brings his sister-in-law cum chef WANG RUNZHI to Runzhou to taste the food of a famous restaurant. He gets to know the scholar HAN YUAN and the others and they drink together. RUNZHI and DONGPO go the White Dragon hot spring respectively and they see each other naked by accident. RUNZHI hints to DONGPO that she wants to marry him but DONGPO still misses his deceased wife and he doesn't want to start a new relationship with other women. DONGPO asks the emperor to taste RUNZHI's new dish "Messy". The emperor's cousin Princess SHOUAN invites LIU YUE'E and her husband CHEN JICHANG to taste it together. The emperor appreciates the dish very much. He grants DONGPO and RUNZHI a pair of firecrackers. SHOUAN wants the firecrackers as well and she asks DONGPO to give one to her but DONGPO rejects her.… ...

QIN SHAOYOU and HONG SI are wrestling on the street to earn money. SHAOYOU meets XIAOMEI at Mofa Monastery. He challenges XIAOMEI but XIAOMEI fails to answer his question. SHAOYOU therefore asks XIAOMEI to pass the question to DONGPO. DONGPO ponders over Madam YUE's matter and he finally finds a way to solve SHAOYOU's riddle. DONGPO discovers the workshop for making fake banknotes and he is captured. Madam HAN worries that he will tell the others and she wants DONGPO to collaborate with her. She also decides to release DONGPO after the wedding of HAN YUAN and RUNZHI. On the wedding day, RUNZHI fails to see DONGPO and she refuses to get married. Madam HAN finally brings DONGPO and XIAOMEI to the main hall. RUNZHI abducts HAN YUAN with her hairpin. When they arrive at the fork, SHAOYOU helps to abduct HAN YUAN and draws away the chasers.… ...

RUNZHI and Sis JIAO present DONGPO's favorite lamb pot at the same time. Everybody praises Sis JIAO for her outstanding cooking skills. The emperor reveals to DONGPO that the imperial chef is not as good as his home chefs. He wants DONGPO to send his chef to the palace so that she could train the imperial chef. DONGPO asks RUNZHI and Sis JIAO to have a contest. The loser needs to work as a chef in the palace for one month. On the contest day, RUNZHI discovers that the pork is rather sweet and she realizes that someone has replaced the salt with sugar. DONGPO finally announces that Sis JIAO has lost the contest. However, Sis JIAO doesn't want to go to the palace and she burns her hand at the stove. DONGPO invites the emperor and ANSHI to taste some new dishes at the restaurant. Everybody arrives to watch the emperor.… ...

In order to alienate SU MAI from RUNZHI, Sis JIAO tries to make SU MAI believe that RUNZHI is a bad woman. DONGPO goes to the park with RUNZHI and he meets ANSHI and his wife there. DONGPO invites the ladies to play word games and he discovers that RUNZHI is not good at it. He therefore asks SU MAI to teach RUNZHI. RUNZHI doesn't know couplet at all and SU MAI wants to punish her. Sis JIAO suggests RUNZHI to bring SU MAI to the market so that she will not be punished and they meet a strong slave on the street. DONGPO reports the case to the emperor and he suggests to stop the trading of slaves. ANSHI objects it for he thinks that this is a matter of the Liao Kingdom. SHAOYOU and HUNG SI discover that a storyteller is telling the story of DONGPO and Madam HAN. The storyteller is not mentioning SHAOYOU at all. HUNG SI cannot bear it and he argues with the storyteller.… ...

SHAOYOU and HUNG SI visit DONGPO. After learning about his situation, DONGPO wants to give him money and rice but SHAOYOU rejects him. RUNZHI doesn't want to manage the financial matters of the family and she wants to pass the job to DAMEI again and YUE'E supports the idea. The fan shop's owner suggests to sell the shop to DAMEI. DAMEI is interested and she wants to borrow money from DONGPO. During the time, Pork Vendor RONG suddenly returns money to them and DAMEI finds that the money is just enough for her to buy the fan shop. DAMEI's case is discovered and DONGPO scolds her. DAMEI promises to return the money in three days. DAMEI meets her ex-boyfriend JICHANG and JICHANG is willing to invest in her shop. DONGPO believes that SU MAI is playing tricks on RUNZHI and he scolds him. SU MAI complains that he is being wronged and he runs away from home. SU MAI is bullied by the street boys and SHAOYOU stops it on time.… ...

SHAOYOU brings RUNZHI and SU MAI to the lake. He tells them the story of "Lying Down on the Ice to Fetch Carp for his Stepmother". DONGPO and GAO GUI go to the fruit store opposite to DAMEI's fan shop to buy fruits. They try to hint to DAMEI that she should name the fan shop as "Tied Together Fans" and DAMEI accepts DONGPO's suggestion. DAMEI sends JICHANG a fan and YUE'E is very jealous. JICHANG tries to return the fan to DAMEI and DONGPO thinks that YUE'E is unreasonable. DONGPO doesn't want DAMEI to meet up with JICHANG again and RUNZHI quarrels with him. Sis JIAO is happy and she reveals to DONGPO that RUNZHI seems to have close relationship with SHAOYOU. XIAOMEI suddenly visits RUNZHI. She discovers that SHAOYOU and Sis JIAO are sitting on the bed. SHAOYOU stuns XIAOMEI immediately. Sis JIAO is scared and she decides to leave the house with SHAOYOU. She later runs away by boat without caring about SHAOYOU at all...

ANSHI's younger son WANG PANG and SU MAI try to show off in front of each other. SU MAI takes out a huge brush and claims that it is a gift from the emperor. The brush suddenly explodes and WANG PANG is injured. The doctor says that WANG PANG is out of his mind. A Taoist says that WANG PANG will recover if SU MAI drinks his charm water. Mrs WANG and the Taoist urge SU MAI to drink the charm water. RUNZHI tries to drink the charm water for SU MAI and she vomits immediately. DONGPO tries to torture SU MAI with a huge firecracker but RUNZHI decides to sacrifice for SU MAI... The emperor discusses a political matter with ANSHI and the other government officials. He asks DONGPO to carry out investigation on the matter. DONGPO asks SHAOYAO to inspect the sericulture at his hometown. XIAOMEI follows SHAOYAO by saying that she wants to monitor him. The silkworms have died mysteriously.… ...

YUE'E wants to invest in the fan shop and she forces DAMEI to sign a contract with her. DONGPO is satisfied with SHAOYAO's sericulture report and he asks him to manage the sericulture investigation of other states as well. YUE'E brings a Feng Shui Master to the fan shop for inspection. She tries to hang a huge fan there by saying that this could improve the business. JICHANG reveals to the shop assistant YUAN JI secretly that the huge fan will cause illnesses. ANSHI’s elder son WANG PANG visits the fan shop and DAMEI is invited to the Prime Minister’s Office to check out the fans. After learning the status of WANG PANG, YUE'E is jealous for DAMEI has a rich and powerful friend. DAMEI invites WANG PANG to meet up with DONGPO. WANG PANG reveals to DONGPO that he will join the imperial examination with his own efforts. DONGPO appreciates it and he agrees to marry DAMEI to him. The two families meet up with each other.… ...