[A chuunibyou fisherman's daughter with brawn but no brains vs. a graceful, scholarly official who runs at the first sign of trouble]
Female lead's perspective:
Li Nanqing, an honest, down-to-earth fishmonger who knew nothing but how to gut fish, never dreamed that one day she would be wanted by the authorities of Haicheng.
The person who had her wanted was none other than the helpless landlubber she had fished out of the water three days earlier, the newly appointed county magistrate, Song Qianxun.
Song Qianxun, a useless magistrate who had bought his post, swiftly wrote out a verdict sentencing Li Nanqing to death.
Furious, Li Nanqing stormed back to the crime scene to demand an explanation. But the moment she saw the corpse, she fainted and fell into an endless nightmare.
Li Nanqing had never known her dreams could summon so many ghosts.
One, two, three of them appeared. Unable to speak, their eyes still full of hatred and fear as they relived the moments before their deaths in her dreams.
Each time Li Nanqing woke in fright, she solved another wrongful death case.
And so, the fisherman's daughter Li Nanqing was exceptionally appointed Inspector Li of the county yamen.
The day she was made Song Qianxun's equal, Li Nanqing worked across a desk from him and finally realized, belatedly, that this Lord Song had never looked at her quite right.
Male lead's perspective:
The year he traveled to the capital for the imperial examinations became a turning point Song Qianxun would never forget.
Passing through a fishing village in Jiangbei, he was haunted by a female ghost.
The young scholar heard the story of the injustice behind the ghost and wept bitterly, his heart aching.
So, on his way to the capital, he took a detour to Da Bao'en Temple.
The temple was filled with the Buddha's radiance, all spirits sharing in its light. He begged the abbot, hoping only that the pitiful wronged soul might find salvation.
Many years later, all things had fallen into desolation and time had changed everything. The young scholar had endured a lifetime of ups and downs, and found himself with a dead wife and child, stripped of his name and sent into exile.
He scraped together all the money he had and bought himself an official post in Haicheng County.
On the way to take up his post, the weather turned against him, and his boat sank in the vast sea.
But then Heaven played him a cruel joke: just before he lost consciousness, he saw the young woman who had rescued him.
Her features were just as he remembered.
Yet the woman named Li Nanqing clearly remembered nothing of her past.
She didn't even remember his pleas beneath the waning moon outside the temple that night.
"I would gladly descend into hell, if only your soul could cross over."
Reader's guide:
1. One-on-one romance, both leads' first and only love. The timeline is a little long and complicated, but the leads have always loved each other. Everything will be explained later.
2. This is a fictional setting. All details are made up. The author was a terrible history student, so history buffs, please stay away.
3. The female lead's golden finger will be explained later. The cases do not involve supernatural or fantasy elements.
4. I updated the original setting. Otherwise, something about writing it just didn't feel right.
5. Blurb updated on June 8, 2025.
Theme: Punish evil and promote good
