Ying Chang’an

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A self-reliant coroner from the lowest rung of society vs. a young county magistrate determined to uphold justice for all

In the southwest stands a city called Yongchang.

At the height of the Tang dynasty, this one city was rich enough to rival an entire country.

Everyone praised Yongchang’s dazzling prosperity as a paradise on earth.

Yet the countless lights could reveal every kind of glory, but not the countless lives treated like blades of grass.

The real Yongchang was a dark city where lives were snuffed out without a trace, its foundations sunk deep in untold wealth.

Jiang Yanqing, nineteen years old, was raised in the quiet of a Buddhist temple. By imperial favor, he traveled alone to Shu to take up an official post.

Surrounded by wolves, among people as monstrous as demons, he faced bloodshed and swordplay, with unsolved cases everywhere...

He did not seek to live for himself. He sought only to uphold justice for all and secure a future for the people.

On a rainy night as he traveled to take up his post, a young woman named Shen Ying burst into his sedan chair like a ghost fire in the darkness.

Shen Ying was a low-ranking female coroner in Yongchang, a nobody who had mastered the art of examining corpses and moved between the worlds of the living and the dead.

He needed a blade to strike at Yongchang, and she appeared at just the right time.

Jiang Yanqing held a high position and was besieged on all sides. It was hard.

Shen Ying was born in the mire and could barely protect herself. It was hard for her, too.

On the brink of death, Jiang Yanqing saw for the first time that his Shen Ying could:

Live like an ant and still dare to raise her blade against the heavens, demanding to know right from wrong.

Even if there was no righteous path in the world and the roads of Shu were treacherous, as long as she lived, she would forge a way forward.

He did not understand her fiery passion until she said, “My lord, I want to be the blade in your hand.”

Shen Ying wanted to be the blade that “speaks for the living, gives voice to the dead, and clears the names of those treated like ants”...

Content warnings:

1. One-on-one romance, both leads’ first love, happy ending.

2. Plot-driven ensemble story, focused on solving mysterious cases.

3. Neither lead is perfect.

4. Set in the Tang dynasty, with many fictionalized details.

5. Entire story is free~

Theme: Treat the suspicious eyes of others like ghostly lanterns, and bravely walk your own road through the night.