[Lively, clever, scheming, and wicked coffin shop owner's daughter VS aloof, celibate, clingy, and meticulous Vice Minister of Justice]
Ming Zhao is the only daughter of a coffin shop owner whose family business has been around for a hundred years. Her first sixteen years have been smooth and comfortable. She has no great ambitions. She only wants to look after the shop, then, when she is old enough, find a live-in son-in-law and run the coffin shop together for another hundred years.
Who could have guessed that an imperial edict would arrive, betrothing her, a hard-to-kill woman born in the year, month, and day of yin, to Xie Lin, the youngest Vice Minister of Justice in Chang'an?
Everyone knows that Xie Lin looks like an immortal, aloof and noble, a flower in the mirror and moon in the water, beyond the reach of countless noble young ladies.
But rumors also say he is cursed and will not live past the age of twenty.
He is now nineteen, with only one year left to live.
She is to marry him and extend his life.
On their wedding night, a sudden downpour fell. A ghostly bride appeared on Zhuque Street in Chang'an, walking barefoot through blood.
The next day, five women in red were found floating in the Jiuyou Canal, their deaths bizarre and their faces smiling...
One strange case after another unfolds, while dark currents stir beneath the prosperous surface of Chang'an.
According to rumors, the marriage between the Vice Minister of Justice and the coffin shop owner's daughter has angered the gods and defied the will of Heaven.
The emperor is furious and orders the two of them to investigate the case together. If they cannot uncover the truth, they will both lose their heads.
Ming Zhao looks at the fair and elegant Xie Lin and complains, "See? I told you we weren't suited for each other, but you wouldn't listen."
Xie Lin lifts his eyes calmly, his voice cool and low. "I chose our marriage. If Heaven refuses to accept it, then I will cut Heaven down."
It turns out that what she thought was an exchange of lives had been his long-planned scheme all along.
1. Still a mystery and deduction story, with mildly scary cases.
2. There is a romance. The leads marry first and fall in love later.
Theme: You can't judge a person by appearances.
