Radiant, sharp-tongued "Puppet Beauty" x loyal, taciturn "Master Sculptor"
A concubine has died in the Xu household.
Grief-stricken, the head of the Xu family commissions Pei Zhaoyuan to carve a life-size wooden statue of her.
Pei Zhaoyuan gladly agrees, intending to use the commission to investigate an old case involving the Xu family.
On the night the statue is completed, it comes to life.
A peerlessly beautiful young woman slips into his room and uses her delicate hand to open his lapel.
"I offer myself to you, my lord, to repay you for giving me a new life."
As if in a dream, Pei Zhaoyuan lets her take his body before he knows what's happening.
From that night on, strange events plague the town.
Everyone in the Xu family, from its head to its youngest children, meets with disaster.
The townspeople say a ghost has possessed a living person to take revenge on this powerful family, notorious for its many misdeeds.
Only Pei Zhaoyuan wakes in the dead of night and instinctively shields the wife beside him.
A spirit brought to life through a wooden statue is slaughtering the living.
But she is his wife.
Capturing criminals is the duty of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. Protecting his wife is a husband's duty, too.
He reaches for the carving knife, but his wife already has it in her hand.
"Husband, are you going to kill me?"
Pei Zhaoyuan shakes his head. He takes her hand and presses the carving knife to his own throat.
"Kill me, and I'll go to the underworld with you. We'll be a pair of lovers fleeing death together."
*
Mu Furong wakes in a mass grave.
She dusts off her clothes and heads straight for Pei Zhaoyuan's home.
She burns the wooden statue he spent three nights making, then slips into his room in the dead of night.
This Embroidered Uniform Guard, lying in wait in town, will be a great help in her revenge.
Using the tale of vengeful spirits, she plots against every member of the Xu family.
But at the final moment, Pei Zhaoyuan discovers her true identity.
Without a trace of regret, she picks up the carving knife and points it at her own throat.
"I won't get in my husband's way. You can hand over my corpse to answer for it."
Pei Zhaoyuan grips the end of the chisel. The blood in his palm mingles with hers, forming blossoms of hibiscus.
He draws her into his arms.
"The purpose of carving is to let the departed live on in the form of wooden statues."
"My wife is a wooden statue beauty. My wife will not die."
Theme: Keep your dignity and stay true to one another
