She is the legitimate daughter of the Minister of Rites. In a single night, her family is destroyed, and she becomes the top courtesan in the government entertainment quarters.
He is an official in the Embroidered Uniform Guard, bearing the blood feud of the Prince of Cheng’s residence and lying in wait for ten years in the darkness.
A marriage of convenience binds two shattered souls together.
He needs the account books in her hands; she needs the blade in his.
From the government entertainment quarters of Jinling to the Twenty-Four Bridges of Yangzhou, from fleeing for their lives at sea to facing down their accusers in the imperial palace,
they spend ten years laying their plans, exposing the Ming dynasty’s deepest salt-trade corruption, bringing corrupt officials to justice, and clearing the names of the wrongfully accused.
This is revenge and redemption, political scheming and love, and the story of a woman’s transformation from a pawn into a player.
Life is like a night afloat; only the lamp burns on.
