Freely adapted from Gabriel García Márquez's Chronicle of a Death Foretold, the film follows the investigation of a local teacher's murder in a small and desperately poor rural village, the story of the crime gradually pieced together from the fragmented memories of witnesses forced to testify at an inquest. Sharing with her Fifth Generation colleagues Chen Kaige and Tian Zhuangzhuang a remarkable eye for the barren landscapes of northern China and a fascination with small-town life — especially those enduring superstitions that Communism failed to erase — director Li Shaohong also introduces several formal innovations, particularly in storytelling structure, that remain unprecedented in Chinese cinema.

After laying bare backward village mentalities in Bloody Morning, Li Shaohong turns her attention to China’s urban middle class. Cao is a photographer, married to an opera singer and with an infant son, caught in the usual professional morass of political compromise. His life starts to fall apart when he learns that his ex-wife also bore him a son some months after their divorce – and when the boy turns up looking for his father. Nothing wildly dramatic, just believable people in believable situations. If the ending seems a touch forced, this is nevertheless a sign that ‘Fifth Generation’ cinema is changing and coming to terms with up-to-date realities.

大唐皇后武则天（归亚蕾 饰）怀胎12月而无法临盆。大雨连天，当大胜突厥的喜讯传来之时，武则天羊水破了。公主就这样在漫天风雨中来到世界。唐高宗李治认定女儿的降世将为天下带来好运，当场赐名太平公主。
少年太平（周迅 饰）顽皮不堪，捉弄三个哥哥，戳破好姐妹韦氏（胡静 饰）与哥哥显的小爱情，却也目睹了宫内斗争的风雨。但这些风雨离太平还很遥远。直到她16岁与韦氏偷偷出宫，在夜市扰攘中偶遇薛绍（赵文瑄 饰），少女情窦初开。
在太平的请愿下，武则天明知薛绍早有妻室也答应了太平的请婚，一手安排了薛绍妻子慧娘的赐死，也为太平的婚姻悲剧埋下伏笔。婚后无论太平如何温柔体贴，薛绍始终不置一词。然而倔强为爱不顾一切的太平（陈红 饰）赢得了薛家上下的信任，当真相被无情揭露时，薛家对她的唯一请求是保留薛家的血脉——叶儿。薛绍的死给太平带来了极大的创伤，也为母女关系扯开一道无法弥合的裂缝。
武则天登基，创立大周朝。太平为了与母亲赌气而嫁给憨厚老实却一无所长的武攸嗣（傅彪 饰），度过了五年漫长的毫无喜悦的婚姻。但这段时期却培养了太平的政治能力，她一而再再而三地为母亲解决了政治危机，深得武则天器重。然而她仍然拒绝入主政治。深爱太平却苦于无法得到太平的心的武攸嗣一次酒后偷欢，被太平撞见后羞愧自尽。太平就这样结束了自己的第二段婚姻。
当与薛绍长相酷似的张易之（赵文瑄 饰）出现在太平面前时，太平的心再次被捕。然而在交往中，她明白张易之绝对不是薛绍，他们只有情欲的纠缠，而张易之是渴望通过掌控女人来掌控天下。张易之不仅与太平有染，还与韦氏和武则天有关系，这深深地伤害了太平的心。当张易之企图篡位时，远道赶来的太平一刀结束了他的生命，斩断了自己的爱情。
武则天去世，太平成了镇国公主。侄子李隆基对她呵护有加，当年的叶儿也长成了高大的好青年，并与李隆基是挚交好友。这两位年轻人用自己的方式爱着太平：李隆基是要让姑母得到天下权利而爱她，叶儿则是让太平离开权利纷争而爱她。这矛盾一触即发……