In the autumn of the 23rd year of Yongxi's reign, there were continuous heavy rains in the capital. Wen Tingyu, the Minister of Rites, died mysteriously in his own Buddhist hall. The doors and windows were locked, and a featherless arrow wrapped with Buddhist beads was stuck in his heart. At the scene of the crime, there were Sanskrit charms from the Tibetan Tantric Sect and a three-legged golden crow totem. Lan Zhuochi, the young minister of Dali Temple, was ordered to investigate the case, but found that the Beidou token held tightly in the deceased's hand was exactly the same as the cult token in a series of murders in the Western Regions three years ago.
Wen Shilang's distant niece Yuxue arrives on a rainy night, claiming to be carrying a secret letter left by her uncle. The half-exposed golden crow embroidery on her sleeve vaguely echoes the clues in the case. As the investigation deepened, the minister of the Ministry of Industry was bombed to death in a ruined temple in the western suburbs. The seven scattered bronze tokens spelled out the prophecy of "The golden crow cries blood, and the crape myrtle changes its owner", pointing directly to the shocking conspiracy behind the dispute for the East Palace throne.
As Lan Zhuochi deals with the undercurrents in the court and the shadows of the cult, Yu Xuejia's true identity becomes increasingly confusing - she is not only an undercover agent deployed by the prince, but she also seems to be inextricably linked to the Golden Crow Sect. When the Sanskrit sounds reappeared, witch puppets, machine locks, and incomplete rebirth spells took turns to appear. The two had to work together to decipher the star map code in the token, but they did not know that every step was approaching the bloody past twenty years ago involving the Tubo emissary and the old man in the palace.
The capital city in the rain is like a huge puzzle. The shadow of the three-legged golden crow covers the trajectory of the Big Dipper. Perhaps the one who finally reveals the truth is the Kirin Pendant of the East Palace, which is hidden deep in the hosta and engraved with the word "Xuejia".
