The Inkstone Detective

In the spring of the Bingwu year, Lin Yan, a candidate from Jiangning, travels to the capital to sit the imperial examinations. In Hemp Rope Alley, he happens upon local bullies trying to seize property by force. When he steps in to help, he unexpectedly uncovers an old case from twenty years earlier: his father, Lin Ruhai, was falsely accused in the salt license scandal and demoted. To clear his father's name, Lin Yan abandons his hopes of earning distinction through the examinations. Starting with a ledger, half a copper coin, and a jade pendant, he follows the clues to uncover the truth. He tangles with corrupt court officials such as Feng Shouyi and Minister Zhao, and discovers a shocking plot by Prince Cheng, Zhu Zaihou, to secretly operate silver mines and mint counterfeit government silver. Together with his loyal servant A Qing, he allies with righteous heroes of the jianghu and upright officials at court. Through house arrest, assassination attempts, and perilous missions into the tiger's den, he finally finds conclusive evidence and presents it to the emperor, clearing his father's name and rooting out traitors to the state. And this upright scholar, with a spine of iron, forges his own path between justice and ambition, the jianghu and the court.