In the spring of Yongchang's seventeenth year, rain fell softly over Jiangnan. Shen Qingyan, a talented young woman, risked everything by disguising herself as a man and entering the imperial examinations to save her father, who had been imprisoned on false charges. Under the name Shen Qing, she passed the provincial and metropolitan exams, then claimed third place in the palace examination. But her success also drew her into a massive case involving missing canal tax silver, one that threatened the entire court. Gu Huaijin, a top scholar from a poor family, bore the burden of his clan's wrongful conviction. Xie Zhiyao, the son of a powerful family, seemed frivolous but hid a keen mind. The three joined forces over the case, unraveling its secrets amid schemes and murder. When the red robes of the examinations were stained with blood and palace secrets revealed a shocking truth, she pressed bravely onward along the path to success as a woman. In the end, she cleared her name before the throne and became the first female Hanlin Academician of the Great Liang, writing a legend of her own as she navigated the painful choice between love and loyalty.
