Phantoms of Along the River During the Qingming Festival

Synopsis of "Phantom Images of Along the River During the Qingming Festival": A fog shrouds Bianjing. A baby's cries outside Jingci Nunnery lead to the discovery of half a damaged scroll, while a dark merchant ship and a mysterious nine-petaled lotus pattern hint at secrets beneath the surface. After Zhang Zeduan is framed and expelled from the Painting Academy for copying the same pattern in "Along the River During the Qingming Festival", the damaged scroll resurfaces three years later, drawing him into a vortex of long-buried events.

Meanwhile, Bianjing is rife with intrigue. The powerful minister Li Bangyan covets the scroll, while the courtesans Liu Ruyan and Li Shishi and the forces behind them watch from the shadows. The Canal Gang, Ximen Qing's household, and other factions are all drawn into the fray. A mysterious man in black seizes the scroll, and Zhang Zeduan's classmate Zhou Wenyuan keeps an unsettling truth to himself, making the situation ever more baffling.

As Zhang Zeduan follows the trail of the truth, every step is fraught with danger. Patterns in the painting, hidden symbols, and a contest between rival factions weave a suspenseful mystery tied to the fate of the court, unfolding beneath the phantom image of "Along the River During the Qingming Festival"...