In the 49th year of Qianlong's reign, Zhou Afu, an apprentice at a coffin shop in the southern suburbs of Beijing, accidentally discovered a treasure map hidden by a former eunuch in the lining of the "Excellent Coffin for Ascension" ordered for his father, the Minister of Justice. In order to collect enough betrothal gifts for his wife, he reluctantly recruited a blind fortune teller, a butcher's widow, and a young man who poured night incense to form a "Get rich without losing your life team" and embarked on a treasure-hunting journey.
Who would have thought that this treasure map was actually a series - the treasure was buried in the courtyard of the former commander of the Jinyi Guards, which has now become the private garden of the Minister of Rites. What's even more ridiculous is that the first "treasure box" they dug up based on the map was actually a question bank from the Shuntian Prefecture Provincial Examination thirty years ago, which involved a shocking old case of examination fraud.
A turmoil caused by a common man's accident was like a pebble thrown into a manure pit, splashing the temples and rivers with a fishy smell. From the Ministry of Internal Affairs to the Caobang private salt, from the Eight Banners Dandy to Jiangnan Weaving, people from all walks of life came on stage one after another, performing scenes of absurd dramas in which "everyone wants a piece of the pie, and everyone is playing tricks on themselves." And our protagonist, Zhou Afu, just wants to use this windfall to change his identity as a "coffin shop apprentice" to a "property and good citizen" with the matchmaker.
Reader comments
It's like peeling an onion: the outer layer is the comedy of the market, the middle layer is the reality of officialdom, but the core oozes existential chill.
It's like peeling an onion: the outer layer is the comedy of the market, the middle layer is the reality of officialdom, but the core oozes existential chill.