Lost in the Labyrinth

Jiang Ensheng is a corpse mender who stitches bodies back together for a living.

She must have bowed to the heavens in just the right direction in a past life, because the mighty magistrate himself has paid a nighttime visit to her home.

Magistrate Yu sincerely invites her to join the investigation into the gruesome dismemberment case that has recently stirred up the entire city. He promises that once the case is solved, he will give her a plaque personally bestowed by the emperor.

That plaque is bait on a hook, drawing her in and driving her to give it everything she's got.

She is simply too naive to see the undercurrents churning beneath the dismemberment case.

When powerful court officials collude with foreign criminals and treat ordinary people's lives as worthless, Jiang Ensheng and Yu Huaizhi pursue them together. Outnumbered and in danger, Yu Huaizhi hesitates for a long time to agree to Jiang Ensheng's suggestion.

She takes his hand, her expression obedient and her voice gentle. Word by word, she says, "My lord should trust me, just as I trust you without reservation."

It's not just you I'm fond of. I admire your abilities, too.

The man falls silent for a long while, then slowly wraps an arm around her and draws her into his embrace. "All right."

[Reading Guide]

1. The heroine probably has an anti-scam app installed in her head. She's not the fussy, conventional type. When things get urgent, she runs if told to, putting survival first. She knows how to read the situation, and when it's time to back down, she does, rather than pretending to be tougher than she is.

2. The heroine and the hero met once as children. Their romance began... perhaps with a skewer of candied hawthorn berries, with only two berries left, and the childhood heroine had already eaten off the sugar coating on both?

In short: she ate his food as a child, so she has to repay him by giving him the rest of her life.

3. The heroine's connection with the second male lead began with... maybe a whole skewer of candied hawthorn berries that she'd bought for the hero, but that ended up going to the second male lead by chance? Unfortunately, he only got to lick it once before someone threw it away.

In short: the order you enter someone's life matters. Better to die early and be reborn sooner (not really).

4. The whole story revolves around the dismemberment case. Feel free to wait until it's complete before diving in.

Theme: Stay confident and resolute. Even a little blade of grass can grow into a towering tree