A Hearth of Smoke Clears an Old Injustice

[Alternate History] In the first year of the Taichang reign, undercurrents churned through the court. The mysteries of Xiaoling, the secret Red Pill Case, and an old conspiracy dating back to Bingwu stirred both the court and the inner palace!

Rebel factions joined forces with powerful eunuchs, using a secret incense recipe to lay one trap after another and plunge the court into chaos. The entire Shen family was falsely accused, leaving the orphaned Shen Qingci alone. She possesses an unparalleled mastery of incense arts and goes into hiding among the common folk under an assumed name. With a single burner of incense, she conceals her sharp edge and vows to uncover the truth behind her family’s destruction.

She crosses paths with Lu Jin, a cold-blooded minister ordered to investigate the Red Pill Case and the secrets of Xiaoling. From wary probing to standing side by side through life and death, they use incense to decipher coded messages and unravel sinister plots. As they uncover the truth behind the Red Pill Case and the hidden secrets of Xiaoling, they destroy the long-entrenched Bingwu conspiracy, clear the Shen family’s name, and purge corruption from the court.

The major case is settled, but remnants of the conspiracy still lurk in the shadows. Years later, their beloved daughter, Lu Shenyan, carries on the incense arts and delves into the secrets left behind by Bingwu, eliminating the remaining conspirators and finally bringing to an end the ultimate case that spanned two generations and lay hidden in riddles of incense and imperial tombs.