Luo Yao studied medicine from a young age and lived in seclusion in the Medical Valley for eighteen years. But when her senior sister disappeared, she stepped out into the world.
Unexpectedly, she stumbled upon a murder case.
Luo Yao had no wish to get involved.
But the constables were useless, and the newly arrived County Deputy Cui was a hotheaded young man who knew nothing but how to fight.
Unable to bear seeing the common people with nowhere to turn and the dead left to suffer injustice, Luo Yao had no choice but to take matters into her own hands.
She did the coroner's work: opening coffins, examining corpses, comforting the dead, and speaking on their behalf.
She did the constables' work: investigating the black market, catching suspects, and risking her life to draw out the real culprit.
She did the county deputy's work too: interrogating suspects, sorting through clues, and solving old cases that had gone cold.
The killer was brought to justice, and her senior sister was found. Luo Yao planned to return to the Medical Valley.
But County Deputy Cui proposed that they travel together.
Luo Yao flatly refused.
Before she could even leave the prefectural city, another murder case came along.
From then on, Luo Yao was swept up in one case after another, unable to extricate herself.
From Yunxiang County to Jizhou Prefecture, from Luoyang in the Eastern Capital to Chang'an, the capital.
No case left unresolved, no doubt left unexamined.
But as she investigated, Luo Yao discovered that everything was connected to a wrongful case from ten years ago that had shocked the entire court.
And she was one of its victims.
/
The Cui clan of Qinghe and the Xie clan of Chenjun arranged a betrothal for their children.
But when Cui Jingxian was ten, his exquisitely beautiful fiancée was abducted by assassins. No one knew whether she was alive or dead.
He searched for her for ten years, but found no trace.
Then, after taking up his post as county deputy in Yunxiang, he met a young woman who could examine corpses, practice medicine, and solve cases.
By chance, he glimpsed the sachet she always carried.
It was exactly like the one he had given his Xie-clan fiancée when they were children.
County Deputy Cui: I have cases to solve, and a wife to pursue!
/
Volume One: The Case of the Missing Maiden
Volume Two: The Case of the Stolen Dead Infant
Volume Three: The Case of the Body Dismembered in a Locked Room
Volume Four: The Poisoning in the Medical Valley
/
The four-person team:
Upright and principled County Deputy Cui (actually a lovesick, scheming wolfdog)
A sharp-minded, clear-eyed female coroner (actually soft-hearted, delicate, and a crybaby)
A cold, aloof female portrait artist (actually rebellious by nature and deeply cunning)
A free-spirited mechanic (actually sensitive, suspicious, and a needy little thing)
Reader's guide
1. This is a fictional historical setting, with episodic mystery cases and a touch of an ensemble cast.
2. The plot comes first, and the romance develops slowly (and sweetly). The leads met once as children, but neither recognizes the other when they reunite. One-on-one romance, both are each other's first, happy ending.
Blurb captured on 2024/12/15.
Theme: Let justice shine bright and reveal the human heart.
