The Female Coroner's Casebook

Murders keep occurring in Xijing City.

The Jingzhao Prefecture has been unable to solve the cases despite a long investigation. The people are in a panic, unable to find peace. The matter reaches the emperor, who specially summons Xun Shang, former Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, to the capital.

However, Xun Shang is gravely ill, so he sends his student, Jiang Sese, to the capital to assist with the investigation.

Prince Pei Jizhou is investigating the murders on the emperor's orders, but the capital's coroner is too inexperienced to determine the cause of death. With no other options, he pins his hopes on Xun Shang. Yet on the day he goes to welcome him, Xun Shang is nowhere to be seen. Instead, a charming young woman steps gracefully down from the carriage.

The prince's heart sinks. Claiming that the mutilated corpses are too bloody and gruesome, and fearing they might frighten the young lady, he refuses to let her enter.

That night, candlelight blazes in the mortuary. Pei Jizhou pushes the door open, only to find a woman sitting with her eyes closed beside a mutilated corpse.

The night wind carries gust after gust of a sickening stench. Even the prince can barely suppress the urge to vomit, but the charming young woman remains utterly composed, still as a mountain.

Even the prince, who has seen his share of slaughter and corpses, feels a chill creep down his back.

The first time Fu Siyuan saw Jiang Sese was outside Xijing City.

Fu Siyuan rode through the snow and stopped beside Jiang Sese's carriage.

"The coroner the Jingzhao Prefecture called in is a woman?" whispered the city gate guard, checking her official credentials.

Fu Siyuan glanced over at the sound and saw a slender, delicate hand reach out from the carriage window to take the credentials.

Fingers white as scallions, skin smooth as jade.

By no stretch of the imagination did it look like the hand of a coroner.

The carriage wheels rolled, and the horses' hooves clopped along.

The north wind lifted the curtain, and Jiang Sese and Fu Siyuan met each other's eyes.

She smiled faintly, as graceful as a startled swan.

Fu Siyuan's heart stirred. He felt as though he had met her before.

When she saw Fu Siyuan again, Jiang Sese thought she would lose control. She thought she would question and curse him hysterically, then spit in his face.

Perhaps it was because she'd spent so much time with corpses that her emotions rarely fluctuated anymore. The moment she encountered Fu Siyuan, she was able to calmly look him in the eye, and even found herself lifting the corners of her mouth.

TIPS: This story is set in a fictional Tang-Song era. Official titles and cities are based on the Tang dynasty; everything else is made up. Any resemblance to real people or events is purely coincidental. All developments serve the plot, and the characters' values do not represent the author's. Please don't take it out on the author.

Theme: The net of heaven is vast, yet no one escapes its justice.