After her parents die, Lin Zhi'an, a distant cousin of the Lin family of Gusu, has no one in the clan to raise her. She travels to Yangzhou to live with her paternal uncle Lin Ruhai, who serves as the Imperial Commissioner of Salt.
Lin Ruhai treats her like his own daughter, letting her live alongside Jia Min and Daiyu.
Later, Jia Min suddenly dies of illness. Grieving, Lin Ruhai worries that his young daughter Lin Daiyu will be left alone and uncared for when she goes to live with her maternal grandmother's family, the Jia clan. He therefore entrusts Lin Zhi'an to accompany Daiyu to the capital and live with her at Rongguo Mansion.
She expects nothing more than the ordinary, peaceful life of a dependent in someone else's household. But just days after entering the Jia clan's lofty red gates, one bizarre murder after another takes place: a strange corpse appears in the dead of night, a death that seems accidental conceals a murderous plot, and an unsolvable death trap is discovered in a locked room... Soon, panic spreads throughout the Grand View Garden, and rumors fly. The Rong and Ning Mansions, once filled with song and dance, are shrouded in layers of bloody gloom...
(The plot mainly focuses on solving mysteries. This fan fiction may not be entirely logical in places, so please read with discretion.)
