The ballet edition is a little different from the movie. It mainly tells of the story of Chen's second wife. The overture goes like this:

In the 1930s, inside the yard of a large, secluded house, the Master orders to lights the red lanterns. A young girl is being forced into a sedan chair. She is the new third wife of the master. Before she climbs in, she remembers her lover - a young actor in an opera troupe.

Amid the joyful atmosphere of the wedding, the first and second wives welcome this newcomer with mixed feelings. On the wedding night, the new wife struggles hard against her tragic destiny, but finally in vain.

The master kills time with his wives day after day, watching Peking Opera and playing mahjong. The new wife takes advantage of the short hours of disengagement to meet her old lover, but is discovered by the second wife, who has evil intentions towards her.

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