In the first year of Taiyuan, peace reigned in the Eastern Jin.
The Court of Justice had always been quiet and orderly, but the arrival of two newcomers suddenly left it bustling with activity.
One was Qin Limo, newly appointed Chief Justice, known for her upright and disciplined conduct. The other was Xing Miaoyu, a female clerk of unknown origins and remarkable insight.
During an assassination attempt on the street, Xing Miaoyu intervened unexpectedly and saved Qin Limo from danger.
The two fled in haste into a mountain valley. A sudden downpour came, and the rushing waterfall soaked them both to the skin.
When Qin Limo's guards finally found them, Qin Limo silently stepped in front of her, shielding her and hiding her disheveled state.
In that brief moment, a faint mark was left on Xing Miaoyu's heart.
After her family suffered a sudden calamity, she concealed her past and sat the examinations to become a clerk at the Court of Justice.
From then on, she and Qin Limo worked side by side, solving one strange case after another:
A maze of tombs, a bizarre jade rice case, a hazelnut trap, a stolen bronze head, a murderous shadow of night cicadas, strange happenings at an abandoned stockade, a mysterious case in the forest...
As they spent their days and nights together, their understanding deepened. At last, she could not help confessing her feelings to him.
But all she got in return was his distant, cool reply:
"Miss Xing, please show some restraint. I am already betrothed."
He remembered the childhood betrothal his family had arranged and had spent years searching for the girl he had never met.
She kept her identity secret and quietly stayed by his side, never knowing that she was the very person he had spent half his life searching for.
Only when an old wrongful conviction came to light could she no longer hide her origins.
Qin Limo took her hand. His gaze deep, he looked at her and said softly:
"After all the twists and turns, after all the storms, I have finally waited for you."
Theme: Their marriage was fated from the start
