The Legendary Detective Tales of Di Renjie in the Tang Dynasty

In the early years of Wu Zetian’s reign as emperor, the Tang Empire seemed prosperous and peaceful, with envoys from every nation coming to pay tribute. In truth, factions jostled for power at court, while assassinations ran rampant throughout the martial world. Beneath the dazzling façade of this golden age, one baffling case after another unfolded: a court painting that foretold death inside a sealed room, a peony flower queen poisoned in full view of the crowd, a ghostly government vessel sailing upstream on the Grand Canal, a caravan vanishing without a trace in the depths of the desert...

This book collects ten original mysteries, ranging from rainy nights in Chang’an to remote Liangzhou, from bustling Yangzhou to the forbidden gardens of the imperial palace. None of these cases is merely a simple tale of murder or robbery; each reflects human greed, political intrigue, and the tragedies of an era. A painter’s blood-written message, tears from an iron Buddha, the mournful cries of a gibbon, lamplight without a shadow: behind these seemingly supernatural signs lie ingenious mechanical tricks and unfathomable calculations of the human heart.