和坤（陳展鵬）才智過人， 深得乾隆帝寵信， 權傾朝野， 營私植黨， 人稱「二皇帝」。
皇十五子永琰（譚俊彥）看似平庸， 與世無爭， 遂得和坤相中， 扶植為皇位繼承人。 嘉慶四年，乾隆駕崩，嘉慶帝先後說服和坤兒子豐紳殷德（何廣沛）以及心腹福長安（陳山聰）倒戈相向，意圖以雷霆手段將和坤及其黨羽一舉殲滅。 然而老謀深算的和坤早有對策， 不但化解嘉慶連番攻擊； 更反客為主， 揭出皇貴妃（李施嬅）一段不可告人的秘密， 令家慶腹背受敵！
和坤二夫人長媚（姚子羚）和紅顏知己豆蔻（唐詩詠）亦在宮中與江湖上分頭行事， 令一向支持家慶的親弟永璘（張穎康）與之反目成仇， 而白蓮教也在江湖上與風作浪， 令家慶陷入絕境。 豈料天命難違⋯⋯
HESHEN (Ruco Chan), brilliant and favoured by EMPEROR QIANLONG, has influence over the throne. He forges extensive factional alliances for shared venality and is dubbed the “Second Emperor”. PRINCE YONGYAN (Shaun Tam), the 15th son of the Emperor, appears mediocre with no ambition, so is selected by HESHEN as first line to the throne. After the death of QIANLONG in the 4th year of EMPEROR JIAQING’s reign, JIAQING manages to convince HESHEN’s son FENGSHEN-YINDE (Matthew Ho) and confidant FUCHANG’AN (Joel Chan) to turn their coat, seeking to sweepingly eliminate HESHEN and his cronies. But, wily HESHEN comes prepared. Facing JIAQING’s attacks, he not only manages to solve this crisis, but also turns the tables, exposing the unspeakable secret of ROYAL NOBLE CONSORT (Selena Lee). Suddenly, JIAQING is caught in the crossfire!
HESHEN’s second wife CHANG MEI (Elain Yiu) and female confidant DOUKOU (Natalie Tong) act separately inside and outside the imperial court, turning JIAQING’s longtime supporter/own brother PRINCE YONGLIN (Jonathan Cheung) into his enemy. With the White Lotus Sect wreaking havoc nationwide, JIAQING is plugged into despair. However, he is a man with a mandate from heaven……

在軍閥割據年代，小小伍長狄奇（張衛健飾）胸無大志，靠蠱惑腦袋、三寸不爛之舌打諢二十年。一次因拯救大元帥蒙大同（ 蔡國慶飾），被連升七級，成為昇威鎮的土皇帝。讓三位盤踞鎮外的軍閥李細龜（張達倫飾）、麥先根（彭懷安飾）及佘南（古明華飾），氣得眼裡噴火，伺機對付。狄奇幸得三位出生入死的兄弟馬炭（洪永城飾）、羅義（徐榮飾）及冬來（李嘉飾）同心抗敵，還威迫利誘武器專才顧落蘆（曹永廉飾）加盟，五人在昇威鎮才能站穩陣腳。狄奇有三位姨太太葉天嬌（譚凱琪飾）、艾妞（楊秀惠飾）及張浣婉（蔡思貝飾），終日爭寵，浣婉更是革命黨元，狄奇明知其身份仍留她在身邊，隨時惹禍上身。軍營中有人野心勃勃，加上軍閥及日本勢力虎視眈眈，另狄奇陷入絕境⋯⋯

In the Warlord Era, DIK KEI (Dicky Cheung) is a lowly captain without any ambition. He has been using his crafty ideas and fast-talking to survive the past twenty years. Due to successfully saving Marshal MUNG TAI-TUNG (Tsai Kwok Hing), he is successively promoted seven grades and becomes a bully calling the shots in Sing Wai Town. Three warlords, namely, LI SAI-KWAI (Max Cheung), MAK SIN-GAN (Eddie Pang) and SHEH NAM (Jerry Ku), in an adjacent territory really hate their new neighbour and are plotting to wreak havoc. Fortunately, DIK KEI has three loyal brothers, namely, MA TAN (Tony Hung), LAW YEE (Tsui Wing) and TUNG LOI (Oscar Li) to help him handle the enemies. They even coerce weapons expert KOO LOK-LO (Raymond Cho) to join their team. The quintet eventually manage to gain a foothold in Sing Wai Town. DIK KEI has three mistresses, namely, YIP TIN-KIU (Zoie Tam), NGAI NAU (Vivien Yeo) and CHEUNG YUEN-YUEN (Sisley Choi) DIK KEI puts himself in danger as he knows YUEN-YUEN is a revolutionary, but he still lets her keep him company. Some people are getting overly ambitious at the military camp. Also, warlords and Japanese forces are watching very closely, causing DIK KEI’s situations to get increasing precarious.