The Qianyuan Casebook

[Mystery and crime-solving + The evils of human nature + Episodic cases + Character growth + No transmigration, no System, pure Chinese-style supernatural mystery]

On the third day of his marriage, an imperial decree arrived.

Yan Qi'an, Junior Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, had offended an influential figure in the palace over a case. He was kicked out of Chang'an and demoted to serve as a court envoy in Lingnan.

He had only three things with him: a letter of demotion, several handwritten case summaries, and his new wife, Pei Zhiwan, the legitimate daughter of the Pei family of Guanzhong.

Oh, and one more thing: his hotheaded brother-in-arms, Yuchi Shu, who had lost his military post and insisted on escorting him south with a blade on his shoulder.

Yan Qi'an took it in stride. If he was going to Lingnan, so be it. He could settle for a quiet post and save enough salary to support his family.

That was until a bounty notice offering two hundred taels of silver, posted outside the Jiang'an County Office, was snatched down by his wife, Pei Zhiwan, who was both immensely wealthy and greedy for money.

“My husband, this bounty will cover our travel expenses all the way there.”

Yan Qi'an glanced at the notice: a bride turned to dry bones, a mountain demon demanding lives, three cases in six months.

He sighed. “All right.”

Who could have guessed that once they started investigating, they wouldn’t be able to stop?

Gods, Buddhas, demons, and spirits. A hundred ghosts roam by night.

Five people traveling together, from Bashu to Lingnan. Ten bizarre cases, ten layers of ghostly disguises peeled away.

The gods, Buddhas, demons, and ghosts were all played by people. Beneath every one of those ten ghostly disguises lay human greed, anger, delusion, and resentment.