The Cold Crow Returns

[Strong female lead and ensemble cast + ancient political intrigue + soul-transmigration mystery + slow-burn, evenly matched leads]

Gu Zhaoning, a famed general of the Dayin Empire, died in Cold Crow Valley.

The reinforcements never arrived. The military orders had been altered. Her trusted subordinates turned against her. The blade that finally pierced her body was not a Beishuo saber, but a Dayin military sword.

When she opened her eyes again, she had become Gu Qingheng, the daughter who had been away from the Gu family for eighteen years.

The real Gu Qingheng was attacked that same day. She never made it to her father’s home, leaving behind only half a bloodstained ledger page and the scene of an ambush carefully staged to deceive.

When Gu Zhaoning returned to the capital under her name, the whole city was seeing off her own funeral procession.

Her father had accepted the conclusion that she died in battle. Her former comrades each had something to hide, and everyone in court wanted the matter of Cold Crow Valley to be laid to rest.

But she was determined to investigate.

She would find out who leaked the army’s route, who forged the orders, and who held back the reinforcements. She would also uncover what lay behind the medicinal-herb ledger and seek answers for Gu Qingheng.

As the two cases gradually converged, she realized that neither of them had been killed by just one person.

Some acted for their family, some for the throne, some for the morale of the army, and others for the so-called stability of the realm.

Each person had made what they believed was a necessary choice.

Together, they had pushed the people defending their country to their deaths.

This time, she would do more than seek the truth for the dead.

She would also decide whether the one returning from Cold Crow Valley was Gu Zhaoning, or Gu Qingheng, bearing two lives within her and no longer willing to be sacrificed by others.