Did the Princess Unmask Herself as a Coroner Today?

[Down-on-Her-Luck, Cheerful Princess Coroner] × [Serious, Secretly Passionate Dali Temple Minister]

Yuan Zhao was the treasured Changning Princess, raised deep within the palace by Emperor Chongxian. After accidentally stumbling upon a secret meeting between villains at a palace banquet, she became the target of a deadly plot. She escaped a blazing fire by the skin of her teeth, then fled the palace, only to be relentlessly pursued by assassins until she was driven into a crowd of refugees.

The pampered Changning Princess was forced to begin a life on the run among displaced people.

At long last, she reached a remote town, only to be thrown into prison by an ignorant county magistrate.

Just as she was brought in for questioning, Lord Cui, the Dali Temple Minister from the capital, arrived on imperial orders to inspect criminal cases across the prefectures and counties. Word had it that the newly appointed minister was cold and unfeeling, but upright and impartial.

But can someone please tell her why this upright and impartial minister looks exactly like the childhood companion she used to loathe?

Reluctantly taken back to the official post station, Yuan Zhao realized he was always scheming to send her back to the capital.

She begged him to let her stay, but she had underestimated just how heartless he was. His condition was that she place first in the county yamen's coroner examination.

A truly wise person does not get caught up in trifles. Staying alive matters more than anything! She slapped the table and declared, "It's a deal! Just you wait!"

-

Only after Yuan Zhao became Cui Xun's accompanying coroner did she learn that he had countless enemies.

So she was once again living in fear, while the man who had promised to protect her left everything in her hands.

Modernizing examination techniques meant arguing her case against a crowd of scholars all by herself. Examining corpses for him brought enemies after her, putting her through trials as perilous as climbing a mountain of blades or crossing a sea of flames. Sometimes, she even had to rack her brains to save him.

She picked up her scalpel, when a servant came to report, "Miss Yuan, this is terrible! The corpse Lord Cui left in the examination room is on fire!"

She was arguing herself hoarse with those pedantic old men from the Ministry of Justice, when a servant came to report, "Miss Yuan, this is terrible! Lord Cui has been cornered by his enemies at the county yamen. He can't get back!"

Every day, Yuan Zhao examined one corpse after another, and after arguing with one person, went off to rescue Cui Xun.

Later, Yuan Zhao finally had the chance to examine a corpse in peace. But just as she opened its belly, she inhaled a strange gas and began to hallucinate.

She saw her late mother, the Consort. She saw the younger imperial brother who had gone missing years ago, beckoning to her... and she also saw Cui Xun, looking flustered as he told her, "I have feelings for you."

Yuan Zhao: "?"

Hah. Looks like I'm really at the end of my life...

-

Cui Xun, the legitimate son of the Marquis of Pingyang, was fifteen when his father broke both his legs and forced him to become a princess's study companion.

Cui Xun disliked Changning Princess. She was spoiled and arrogant, innocent and carefree, and with a single word, she could make his father break his legs.

After leaving Changning, he turned his back on the shortcut of obtaining an official post through family privilege and entered government service on his own. Through ruthless methods, he rose to become the Dali Temple Minister. When he returned to the capital after solving a case, he heard that the princess had died. The emperor secretly entrusted the case to him and sent him to Yuezhou.

The first time he saw Yuan Zhao, he intended to force her back to the capital in accordance with the imperial decree. But then he saw that the princess was young, yet possessed a fearless spirit and a naturally gifted, graceful bearing.

That night, a voice kept telling him, over and over: The palace is surrounded by wolves and tigers. Then leave her here.

Leave her here. Leave her here. Leave her here. Leave her here...

At the end of the road, old grudges and grievances could all be put aside!

Case Previews

[The Fleshly Tai Sui]: The once upright county magistrate has turned into a plump, lustrous white jade statue, worshipped by the people, yet bringing disaster in its wake. Is the white jade demon truly a Tai Sui?

[Flowers Bloom at Her Fingertips]: A brothel's famed beauty plays the zither until hearts break. Her music is seductive, and flowers bloom at her fingertips. Is it all just to ensnare the faithless lover's throat?

[Riverbank Living Pillars]: In the waterside towns of Yuezhou, a river shaman walks the ritual steps upon the water to calm its currents. A thousand floating water lanterns all drift back to shore. Has the river god's anger been stirred?

[The White-Haired Bride]: Red candles blaze in a mansion behind vermilion gates. An official forces a young woman into marriage, and the bride dies in the bridal chamber. Has a high-ranking official taken a bride to borrow her years of life?

[The Wooden Man Scholar]: A lifetime of striving for fame comes down to a difficult examination. Yet a demon has emerged from the pages of ten thousand books. Why does the wooden carving have a pair of human eyes?

Both leads are devoted only to each other, each other's first love, happy ending.

Theme: Justice comes first; do not let the worthy sacrifice themselves.