The Lady of the Prison

The day Shen Zhaoyun opened her eyes in a coffin, Qingyang County was being drenched by heavy rain.

The coroner said nervously, “Madam... she did indeed die suddenly from a heart condition.”

Gripping her own bluish wrist, she sneered. “A heart condition? Cyanotic fingernails, palpitations, shortness of breath. This is clearly aconitine poisoning!”

A modern forensic investigator transmigrates into the body of a county magistrate’s wife who died young in ancient times.

No silk finery, no concubines vying for favor, just a refined and frail husband, Pei Zhuo, and an ever-growing pile of petitions outside the county office.

Thus begins a new chapter in Qingyang County, with the magistrate’s wife presiding over cases in court.

A ghostly fire in the ancestral hall, and someone is murdered?

She follows the clues with microexpression psychology, uncovering the secrets of a family feud.

A bride suddenly dies in her sedan chair?

She uses modern forensic science to find the culprit, and a case of mistaken identities rocks the whole city.

A river embankment collapses, burying a body?

She creates a criminal profile, and an old corruption case comes to light.

The county office staff go from slacking off to worshipping her:

“Your Honor, we found the culprit! Can we make an arrest?”

“Not yet.” She draws a map of the clues on the wall with charcoal. “Let’s find a witness in the prison first.”

Later, the official history records several lines in bold ink:

“During the Jinghe era, Shen Zhaoyun presided over criminal cases for more than a decade, resolving seventy-two miscarriages of justice. Later generations honored her as the Lady of Criminal Justice.”

No one knows that...

One summer afternoon, she accepted a cup of chilled tea from Pei Zhuo and said calmly, “The censor has impeached Chancellor Pei for letting women interfere in criminal cases. What do you think?”

Pei Zhuo smiled. “Let the capable take charge.”

---Blurb for "The Constable’s Wife Gets Promoted"---

Song Moqiu, captain of the criminal investigation team, transmigrates to ancient times.

When she’s seven, three of the chickens belonging to Auntie Liu next door die.

She spots a suspicious white powder on the ground and is about to say something when her father drags her away.

When she’s ten, Old Wang falls off a roof at the end of the alley.

She sees the signs at once, but her mother leads her away.

When she’s nineteen, she sees a man in a black uniform crouched at a crime scene, carefully examining the victim’s wounds. Someone nearby calls out, “Wei Zhi, stop looking. The county lieutenant says it was an accident, so it was an accident. Why are you, a constable, making a fuss?”

Wei Zhi doesn’t even look up. “The wounds don’t add up.”

At last, she’s found someone like herself, and Song Moqiu takes an interest.

When she makes inquiries, she learns that he’s dirt poor and still unmarried.

Song Moqiu decides to marry him, with only one condition: “You solve cases, and I come along.”

Wei Zhi nods firmly. “Deal!”

From then on, a figure in blue is always by Wei Zhi’s side.

The only son of a wealthy family dies on his wedding night.

Song Moqiu surveys the scene. “The wedding candles are poisoned.”

An unidentified man’s body is found at an Earth God temple, apparently starved to death.

Song Moqiu notices a pinprick on the back of the victim’s neck. “This was murder.”

Wei Zhi goes from being shocked, to taking it in stride, to looking at her with nothing but admiration.

Song Moqiu rises to fame, going from a constable’s wife to “Secretary Song,” who oversees criminal investigations.

One day, an official letter arrives at their home: Song Moqiu is appointed an investigating officer at the Dali Temple and must take up her post in the capital immediately.

Commander Wei Zhi looks at the letter, then at his wife, and feels a little aggrieved. “They... didn’t invite me.”

Song Moqiu slips the letter into her sleeve and smiles faintly. “From now on, I’ll solve the cases, and you can come along.”

Theme: Good is rewarded, and evil is punished.