Lin Zhao, the orphaned son of Lin Ruhai, has lived in the Jia household for ten years. In his hands is a battered bronze mirror that reveals people's obsessions and three glimpses of their fate. Under the full moon, he dreams through the mirror and plans every move carefully. But each use makes him forget a memory of someone dear to him.
As the Four Great Families fall into decline, the salt monopoly case stirs beneath the surface, and Prince Beijng has been laying his plans for ten years. The Jia household is caught in the heart of a chessboard. Returning with a military warrant from the Ministry of War, Lin Zhao points at the hairpin beside Fengjie's temple. "You've been deceiving me for ten years."
The mirror reveals danger; his mind finds a way through. He audits the accounts, exposes the poisoned needles, seizes the tiger tally, and burns the secret letters, unraveling the truth amid Yuanchun's homecoming and the battles at court. When the mirror shatters and people die, he sits in a wheelchair with a brush in hand and says with a smile, "In this world, you have to survive with a pen."
