Ten years ago, the Chancellor's entire household was massacred. Song Yanci, the sole survivor, was forced to disguise himself as a sickly wastrel and lie low among the common folk.
Ten years later, on a snowy night, he entered the Prince Regent's residence alone. He used a secret that could bring down a prince as leverage to secure the powerful position of Minister of Justice.
The court saw him as a puppet, while everyone in the Ministry of Justice sidelined and humiliated him.
Yet he saw through people's hearts in casual conversation, exposed traitors through the smallest details, and seized the moment to strike back with overwhelming force, revealing his true abilities for the first time.
A bizarre murder by poisoning in a locked room brought him together with Shen Li, a female coroner who believed that everything left traces.
He plotted and outmaneuvered his foes at court; she investigated evidence and tested for poison in a darkened room. Together, they tore through the truth behind a seemingly perfect crime.
From then on, the man in disguise made his moves, while the avenger broke the deadlock.
Beneath his frail exterior lay a heart of stone, frozen for ten years; in her deft hands rested the blade of investigation, sharp enough to cut through the fog.
Together, in a world of schemes built on lies, they would unleash a storm that turned heaven and earth upside down.
A historical political drama, reminiscent of Mei Changsu, with added elements of female protagonist's deductive reasoning; overall, quite good.