His father died wrongly accused, leaving behind a copper coin polished bright with wear.
At twenty-two, Shen Mo heads to the capital to sit the imperial exams, all for the sake of overturning his father's case. But on his first night, a mysterious note appears on the inn's windowsill: “Don't investigate your father's case.”
He investigates anyway.
From a seventh-rank judicial commissioner to the chief grand secretary, he topples the powerful eunuch Wang Zhi, brings down Grand Secretary Wan An, and overthrows Noble Consort Wan. The whole Ming dynasty thinks he is the emperor's blade.
Only he knows that all he wants is justice for his father.
Along the way, he also crosses paths with Su Wan, a sharp-tongued female bookkeeper. She calls him a “penniless scholar,” but helps him audit accounts, find evidence, and even uses a pair of scissors to drive off people threatening him.
She says, “If you die, who am I supposed to settle accounts with?”
He says, “Then I'll come back alive and let you settle them.”
This is the triumphant rise of a lone courtier, and the story of two bickering kindred spirits who stand by each other through life and death.
Political intrigue, passion, and sweet romance: it all begins with a copper coin and ends with the Ming dynasty's revival.
Click to see how Shen Mo takes on the entire court single-handedly!
