The Long Night and the Cup's Shadow follows Qin Yu, a relic restoration expert who discovers a fingerprint belonging to his late father, Chen Mo, at the scene of a storeroom theft. The fingerprint was pressed outward from inside the display case. Three years ago, his father died in a cave-in. Now the fingerprint has resurfaced, and Qin Yu joins forces with criminal investigator Xu Jing to uncover a vast relic-smuggling network behind the switch of a fake luminous wine cup. As an iron box behind the west wall, a microfilm reel, a bureau chief who faked his death, a scapegoat's USB drive, and an overseas codename, "Luminous," come to light one by one, Qin Yu realizes that his mother's old case, his father's death, and a Warring States jade cup are all closely connected. Genuine and counterfeit, loyalty and betrayal, light and shadow: the twists keep coming. Fang Qinghe faked his death, Zheng Ping was framed as a scapegoat, Fang Ming was a double-dealing interpreter, Cheng Yuanshan stayed silent for twelve years, and Lin Henian colluded with people overseas. Every clue points to a deeper truth: the luminous wine cups were originally a pair, and the other one had long since made its way to an overseas auction house. Qin Yu must follow his father's example, investigating one cup at a time and checking one piece of data at a time, so the light of the genuine relic can keep streaming through the walls of the cup. The night is long, the cup's shadow stretches far, and the light inside is still flowing.
