Has Si Shiling Solved a Case Today?

Zhong Mian, an apprentice at a clock repair shop, transmigrated into the body of a poor village girl dependent on her older brother and sister-in-law.

To stand on her own two feet, she first needed a job. Zhong Mian found work as a night watchwoman and managed to scrape by through diligence.

But life without clocks was far too inconvenient. She could never keep track of the time.

The county was plagued by thefts. When she saw someone being attacked in the dark, Zhong Mian immediately banged her gong as loudly as she could.

The next day, when she returned home, her brother and sister-in-law decided to throw her out and marry her off to a childless landowner to bear him an heir.

Zhong Mian refused, but they locked her in a storeroom.

The door opened, and a flash of pale blue entered her vision.

"Miss Zhong, would you be willing to come with me?"

The person she'd saved by chance became her fake husband, and he turned out to be the new county magistrate. Zhong Mian resolved to become a model magistrate's wife.

Crooked villagers making excuses? She'd handle them. A mechanical case-solving device laid out the timeline, and once the people watching the trial saw the truth, they joined in denouncing the scoundrels.

Disputes among merchants? Zhong Mian had a solution. If neither side trusted the other, then they'd use five keys, with internal gears recording when and how often the lock was opened.

Poor public safety? Zhong Mian had that covered too. Within a year, nighttime thefts fell by forty percent.

She calibrated time and provided precise timestamps for legal proceedings...

As she took on more and more work, an imperial decree arrived, appointing Zhong Mian as Director of Timekeeping.

But... why was Young Master Pei, who had agreed to marry her in name only, suddenly saying he was in love with her?

As the second son of a marquis, Pei Che could leave all the household's big and small affairs to his older brother. All his family hoped for was that he'd be a kindhearted wastrel.

Pei Che planned to do just that, but after some hesitation, he accepted the secret edict.

The moment the tinderbox lit up, Pei Che saw the instinctive concern and kindness in the young woman's eyes.

He needed a "wife" for the sake of the mission. That's what Pei Che told himself at the time.

They solved cases together and spent their days in each other's company... Pei Che found it harder and harder to take his eyes off her, and more and more frustrating.

...Why had he hidden his identity from her in the first place?

A lighthearted, sweet romance

An alternate world where both men and women can study and hold official posts, though wealth inequality remains.

Theme: Let the people live in peace and prosperity