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.
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"/>