Xie Lijun, a young married woman, is bored by her husband Wang Qiping and attracted to Chen Mengtian, a superficially more appealing and apparently richer man. Chen tells her not to worry if her husband discovers their involvement: he will simply have a lawyer friend start divorce proceedings.

Based on the classic Chinese play Romance of the Western Chamber, Way Down West follows the love story between a poor scholar and wealthy woman. Unable to marry due to their social status, this changes when a bandit attacks the monastery they are staying at demanding the woman's hand. Desperate, her mother promises her hand to whomever manages to defeat the bandit.