During the Kaiju Year of the Northern Song Dynasty, the female widower Gu Qingyi replaced her late brother in the punishment department. With her unique skill of "steaming bones to examine injuries", she became the right-hand man of Cui Heng, the young minister of Dali Temple.
A series of violent deaths of officials involved a shocking conspiracy between the old and new parties. The cinnabar mole behind the ear of the deceased, the Xixia secret text in the medicinal jade candlestick, the private salt chain monopolized by the imperial merchants... Under layers of fog, Gu Qingyi discovered that her life experience was closely related to the core of the case.
The only person she can trust is Cui Shaoqing, who has no sense of taste but is proficient in tea ceremony - even though his left hand hides an unknown dark past.
