In the third year of Hongzhi's reign, a fraud case in the imperial examination caused Shen Qian, the head of the Ministry of Rites, to be questioned and executed. Six years later, his daughter Shen Zhiyi transformed into an "official assassin" and hunted for evidence of corrupt officials in the shadows, just to piece together the truth about her father's injustice. Gu Yan, the commander of the Imperial Guard, was ordered by the emperor to thoroughly investigate the factions in the court. Because of a ridiculous fight between civil servants in front of the palace, he focused on this mysterious woman of unknown origin.
The two strong forces met, from testing to joining forces. He used her business eyes to gain insight into the officialdom, and she relied on his authority to penetrate into the mystery of the imperial examination. When the clues pointed to Feng Bao, the eunuch Bingbi, the Superintendent of Ceremonies, and a huge salt tax network in Jiangnan, the two discovered that the unjust case six years ago was just the tip of the iceberg. The mastermind behind the scenes actually weaved a huge network in the palace to control the imperial power and pervert the imperial examination.
From the court to the arena, Qingliu, pragmatists, and eunuchs take turns appearing on stage, and everyone wears a mask to play the role of loyalty and traitor. When Shen Zhiyi recited the 300-page account book in front of the palace, and when Gu Yanjian pointed at the most trusted person in the palace, the final showdown about truth, justice and the country really began.
