In five years of marriage, Song Wanyang and Fu Zhi had spent little time together and lived like strangers.
Fu Zhi had been exceptionally talented from a young age, and was also handsome. Song Wanyang spotted him at once in a crowd. The already declining Jingguo Duke's household then chose Fu Zhi as a son-in-law through the time-honored practice of recruiting a groom from the successful candidates in the imperial examinations. Song Wanyang got her wish and married the man of her dreams.
After that, the Jingguo Duke's household declined by the day, while Fu Zhi rose steadily through the ranks. He spent most of his time away on assignments, leaving Song Wanyang in the capital. Other than an unfailingly punctual letter once a month, he rarely showed her any concern. Their occasional reunions felt more like routine formalities, stiff and dull.
At last, Fu Zhi had built up enough experience. As a trusted aide to the emperor, he returned to the capital and became the new Minister of the Court of Judicial Review.
Song Wanyang had had enough, too. She seized the chance to leave him a letter of divorce, then took her dowry and child back to her family home.
She thought that, given Fu Zhi's character, they would part amicably and each find someone new.
But that night, the gates of the Jingguo Duke's residence were knocked upon.
A man was carried inside: Fu Zhi, who was said to have encountered a vengeful ghost and fallen unconscious.
The next day, Fu Zhi woke. Song Wanyang had no interest in asking what had happened the night before. She only wanted to throw him out. But then she saw him, his face deathly pale, pulling the quilt over himself. As he spoke, his face turned red.
"Miss Song, I was presumptuous."
Song Wanyang: "???"
Was she crazy, or was Fu Zhi?
Fu Zhi had lost his memory.
He could only remember just meeting Song Wanyang, but she told him they were already married and had a child of three or four.
He thought he might have gone mad.
How could the only legitimate daughter of the Jingguo Duke's household possibly be interested in him?
Before Fu Zhi could make sense of everything, a case was already waiting for him at the Court of Judicial Review.
Rumors claimed that a vengeful ghost was claiming lives in the capital, harming everyone from high-ranking officials to commoners. The emperor ordered Fu Zhi to uncover the truth without delay.
Song Wanyang had meant to leave Fu Zhi to fend for himself, but he pleaded, "Song... Madam, please help me this once."
Seeing Fu Zhi before her, his manner returned to the innocence of his youth, and with lives at stake and no time to lose, Song Wanyang went with him to the Court of Judicial Review.
That one trip led to many more. In the end, Song Wanyang and Fu Zhi solved one bizarre case after another as a married couple, becoming famous throughout the land.
One day, Song Wanyang rummaged through every drawer in search of the letter of divorce, intending to destroy all evidence.
Fu Zhi, who claimed he still hadn't recovered his memories, said, "Don't bother looking. I burned it the day I got it."
Theme: Life is full of surprises.
