The entire Shen family, loyal to the emperor, is slaughtered on the execution ground. Their thirteen-year-old legitimate daughter, Shen Wei, barely escapes with her life.
She abandons her feminine attire, conceals her identity, and takes the name Su Yan. Disguised as a young male coroner, she lies low for four years, investigating strange cases and burying the grievances of the dead.
Xie Heng, Assistant Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, is cool, restrained, and guided by the law. He is her direct superior, and the only person who sees through her disguise and guards her secret alone.
He favors her in their work and has her back when she is desperate. Through years no one knows about, he bears the burden of her forbidden identity as the sole survivor of a massacred family, protecting her in silence.
Hidden threads run through the provinces and counties, storms gather at court, secrets lie within the palace, noble families vie for power, and the martial world is caught up in the struggle.
She uses dry bones to tell right from wrong and her humble position to clear the dead of their grievances, gradually tearing open the shocking conspiracy behind the framing of loyal officials.
A hundred cases are solved, and one day her identity is exposed.
Her identity as a woman comes to light, the false accusations are finally overturned, and her family’s loyal remains are restored to honor.
The land does not fail those who serve it loyally, and he does not fail her after years of lonely endurance and concealment.
A lifetime with a heart hardened like inkstone beneath the frost, and a lifetime of deep devotion to one person alone.
