Dali Temple has female judges, which is unusual in the court. She entered the officialdom through the imperial examination and used her wits to get into the male-dominated prison and officialdom. However, on her third day in office, she encountered a bizarre case of hanging a court prostitute. The crime scene was arranged to look like a suicide, with the hosta broken and the skirt stained with rare spices, but all the details revealed traces of man-made artifacts.
The harem is intertwined with the former dynasty, and Cai Nu's status is low, but behind the scenes there is a secret fight between the concubine Shu's relatives and the prince's gang members. During her investigation of the case, she had to deal with the contempt and exclusion of her colleagues, the deliberate attempts by her superiors to make things difficult, and she also had to beware of the secret obstruction from the harem forces. Witnesses disappeared inexplicably, files were tampered with, and anonymous threats even followed.
As the investigation deepened, she discovered that this murder was not an isolated case. The cause of death of the palace maid who disappeared three years ago and the family members of the imperial censor who died suddenly six months ago are all secretly related to the girl-gathering case. The clue points to the forbidden area in the palace, where shocking secrets related to the change of imperial power are hidden.
As a woman, she navigates the shadows of palace walls and the whirlpool of official circles. In the process of peeling off the cocoon, not only must we uncover the truth of the serial mysteries, but we must also protect ourselves in the chess game of the prince's succession, and we must break the shackles of gender and gain a firm foothold in the patriarchal officialdom. It's just that the fog is thick. Every step she takes towards the truth brings her closer to danger, and no one around her seems to be truly trustworthy.
