A Prophet (我不是大师)

In 1936 Republican-era China, Shangguan Chengming, the son of a wealthy family, is targeted by the Tianxiang Sect, a secretive organization that uses fortune-telling and superstition to prey on the desperate. On his wedding day, a blind fortune-teller warns him to stay away from his bride, Jiang Feiyan, or his family will be destroyed. When his father dies, his siblings disappear, and his stepmother falls into a coma, the prophecy comes true. As he uncovers the truth, he realizes the tragedy was an elaborate scam orchestrated by the sect—and that his new wife, Jiang Feiyan, is one of its key members. To take revenge, Shangguan Chengming goes into hiding, becomes a disciple of the crippled sect elder Jin Buhuan, and learns the art of deception. Using the scammers' own methods against them, he and Jiang Feiyan—a "thousand-faced" female swindler trapped between her loyalty to the sect and her growing feelings for him—join forces in a dangerous game of cat and mouse to dismantle the Tianxiang Sect, expose the darkness behind the superstitions, and free those under its control.

The series has 24 episodes (approx. 40–45 min each). The drama unfolds through nine interconnected cases ("unit cases") that interweave with the main revenge storyline. It can be broadly divided into four main story arcs:

• Act 1: The Fall & Going Undercover (Episodes 1–4 approx.): Shangguan Chengming's family is destroyed by the Tianxiang Sect's scam. He survives, is saved by the crippled elder Jin Buhuan, and goes undercover as "Lü Ruhui" to infiltrate the sect. He begins learning deception techniques while gathering intelligence on the people who ruined his family.
• Act 2: Learning the Trade & First Cons (Episodes 5–12 approx.): Shangguan Chengming, now trained in the art of the con, begins executing his own scams against the sect's members and corrupt figures. He reunites with Jiang Feiyan, and their complex dynamic—partners in deception, part antagonists, and part lovers—drives the narrative forward.
• Act 3: The Reveal & The Ultimate Betrayal (Episodes 13–19 approx.): A shocking truth is uncovered: Jin Buhuan, the very man who saved Shangguan Chengming and taught him everything, is revealed to be the true mastermind behind his family's destruction. The revelation forces Shangguan to question everything he has learned and everyone he has trusted, setting the stage for a final confrontation.
• Act 4: The Final Con & Dissolution of the Sect (Episodes 20–24): Shangguan Chengming and Jiang Feiyan fully ally, setting up a grand, multi-layered "game within a game" to bring down the entire Tianxiang Sect. Their elaborate scam successfully exposes the sect's crimes, dismantles its leadership, and frees those it had manipulated. The series concludes with the protagonists emerging from their shared ordeal, having found a measure of justice and personal redemption.