During the Kaixi era of the Southern Song dynasty, one hundred thousand taels of military silver vanished overnight from the Fengchu Treasury in Lin'an Prefecture. The doors and windows were locked tight, as if the crime had been committed by a ghost. Shen Mo, a secret agent of the Imperial City Bureau, was ordered to investigate openly and covertly, taking on the identity of a military registrar in Qiantang County. During his investigation, Shen Mo joined forces with Lin Muxue, the daughter of a military family, and Zhao Wujie, an officer of the Imperial City Bureau, and discovered that the case was far more than a simple theft. The stolen government silver was being shipped overseas by the Canal Gang, then melted down and returned in the form of manufactured goods, striking at the economic lifeline of the Song dynasty. As a counterfeit currency case and a military arms bureau corruption scandal came to light one after another, a mysterious organization called the Golden Scale Society gradually emerged. Its influence reached deep into the court, the military, and the merchant world, and was even closely tied to the grand northern campaign Chancellor Han Tuozhou was preparing. When Shen Mo finally lifted the layers of deception, he discovered that the mastermind was none other than the highly respected Prince of Jin, Zhao Ruyu. This royal prince intended to bring about a financial collapse and turmoil at court to fulfill his ambition of seizing the throne. With Lin'an on the brink of collapse, Shen Mo must navigate the forces vying for power, uncover the truth behind his father's wrongful case, and stop this shocking conspiracy that threatens the very foundations of the state.
