[Zhan Zhao Fanfic] The Chain of Schemes

Kaifeng Prefecture takes on the case of a courtesan who has been murdered, and the Imperial Cat, Zhan Zhao, heads to the brothel to investigate. The case is shrouded in mystery, with many clues still needing to be verified. By chance, one of the victim's belongings turns out to be connected to Shui Jiping, Zhan Zhao's childhood sweetheart, who left without a word three years ago. No matter how the stars shift or the years pass, they cannot erase the bond buried between them. Before the earlier murder case can be solved, another disaster strikes the capital: a general who once fought on the Song-Xia border conspires with a foreign power. In this turbulent time, more and more people are drawn into the fray, including the Brocade Mouse Bai Yutang, Zhan Zhao's closest comrades, and even the Court of Judicial Review, charged with upholding justice. All are pulled into this intricate, ever-shifting game of schemes. Torn between love and law, enemy and friend, Zhan Zhao struggles to hold fast to his principles. Yet more and more people come looking for trouble, bringing one tangled calamity after another, like trying to cut water with a blade, only to see it flow all the faster. But why do the clues he's following increasingly point toward Grand Tutor Pang and Western Xia? Could this Marquis of Anle, so highly regarded by Zhao Zhen, really be conspiring with a foreign power and plotting treason? How will Zhan Zhao and the Five Mice face this vast, perilous landscape of reefs and raging fires?