Zhou Qingwu, proprietress of Jichuntang in Yangzhou, has kept the family business afloat alone for a year, repeatedly facing pressure from the Salt Gang. Shen Yanzhou, an idle fellow who makes a living setting up a stall and writing calligraphy, has come to her aid several times. She gradually discovers that he is the brother who disappeared many years ago. Together, the siblings investigate their father's death, following the clues to uncover a smuggling network trafficking medicinal herbs to the Northern Di. Their investigation leads from Yangzhou to Guangzhou, Quanzhou, and Fuzhou, where they finally expose a vast smuggling web stretching across the court and the common world.
Soul penetration, mark.