Literally the title means 'Love and Sword,' although it is more meaningful in Chinese. It happened at the beginning of the Cing Dynasty. The heir of the Ming court Jhu Youlang, known as the emperor Yongli, was wanted not only by the government but also by the highly organized gang, Wanhua Piaosiang Lou. The latter chased him because they intended to use him as a puppet to attract the masters and mistresses in the martial arts circle. His sister the ninth princess disguised herself as a man also looking for him.

      The protagonist was named Jian Kunlun. Coincidentally he rescued Jhu Youlang from being seized by the Wanhua Lou gang when he was on his way to visit Cui Ping. Because of this Cui Ping and his family were massacred by Wanhua Lou. Jian was caught by Shih Meijiao, a powerful mistress of the Wanhua Lou, and took him back to her headquarters. The head of Wanhua Lou, Liu Dieyi and his homosexual lover, Li Cilang, both liked him and invited him to join Wanhua Lou. But they changed their minds when Jian tried to kill Liu. Jian was rescued by a strange old man, and he also learned wugong from him.

      Equipped with better wugong and a sword left by the dead Cui Ping, Jian Kunlun returned to the martial arts circle. He defeated a group of government troops and rescued a young man, Mr. Hong. When he looked after the injured Mr. Hong in an Inn, he found out Mr. Hong was actually a female, the ninth princess. Subsequently they decided to call each other brother and sister, and they were travelling together.

      The ninth princess's true identity was soon discovered by the officials. She was arrested and sent to the infamous turncoat Wu Sanguei's palace. With the help of Wu's wife, Chen Yuanyuan, and two martial arts masters the princess got free. These two masters were friends of Jian Kunlun's father. Gradually more people joined them to fight against the Wanhua Lou gang.

      The Wanhua Lou gang kept chasing Jhu Youlang, and the mistress, Shih Meijiao, almost got him. Jian Kunlun appeared to help Jhu. When he eventually killed Liu Dieyi, both Shih Meijiao and Li Shilang committed suicide, because they both were deeply in love with him. Jhu Youlang decided not to flee to Thailand, but stayed in China to fight against the Cing government. He also married his sister the ninth princess to Jian Kunlun. Although the environment was not good for them, they kept visiting the righteous scholars, such as Gu Yanwu, and they never gave up.

      This novel has two major story lines: one is the adventure of the protagonist Jian Kunlun; the other is the desperate live of the Ming descendents, emperor Yongli and the ninth princess. This two lines cross every now and then, in addition there are the complicated homo-, hetero- and bisexual relationships. The characters are impressive and the conversations are very interesting.