Scholar Yuen Man-lung leads a double life as Vigilante Golden Cat. Yuen is separated from his lover Tso Oi-lan by her snobbish father who promises her to Tsui Tai-fei, son of the magistrate and incriminates him as the wanted burglar. Yuen sneaks out of prison and wreaks havoc in Golden Cat's name; the exasperated magistrate has to release him. Before leaving for the imperial exams with the runaway Oi-lan, Yuen stages one final heist for his friend's sake. The officials trail Golden Cat to his house where his nocturnal costume is retrieved. His father is arrested as the criminal. Drawing a plan up her sleeves, Oi-lan's sister Oi-ling whisks the elder out of the execution ground. Despite failing at the exams presided over by corrupt examiners, Yuen saves the emperor on his homecoming journey, and returns triumphant as a duke.