陈世美 leaves his wife
秦香莲 and their children at home, comes first in the palace examination and marries a princess. When his wife finds him in the capital he denies her and sends a man to kill her, and she takes her case to
包公, who has him executed although the princess and the empress dowager plead for him. The opera is also called 《
铡驸马》, and
陈世美 is still a byword for a man who abandons his wife for wealth.
