In the twenty-third year of the Dasheng reign, the former emperor died suddenly, and the cause remained a mystery.
A vermilion brush passed from the belongings of Shen Heng, a veteran clerk of the Ministry of Justice, into the hands of his stuttering son, Shen Yan.
The day Shen Yan was dragged to the execution ground, he was charged with regicide. As the executioner’s blade came down, the vermilion brush moved on its own. Its tip drew a blood-red line across the case file, and three days later, the real culprit was “conveniently” found in a gambling den south of the city.
The Iron Brush’s Celestial Pattern: Write down the complete chain of reasoning and read it aloud in public, and any truth buried beneath a cover-up will inevitably come to light within three days. The price is that the brush fades a little with every use, and Shen Yan loses a stretch of his memory. If his deduction is disproved, he will cough up blood in retribution, and a serious backlash could leave him crippled.
From death-row inmate to clerk at the Ministry of Justice, from a wife-murder case to embezzlement of river-construction funds, from a family massacre ten years ago to the emperor’s close attendant being switched with an impostor. Shen Yan wields his brush like a blade, turning page after page to expose the deepest, darkest accounts of the Dasheng court.
Cao the Eunuch is smiling. Prince Zhou is waiting. The former emperor watches from the shadows.
Three imperial edicts of succession appear at once, each naming a different heir. The final line of the true edict reads: “The throne shall pass to the Crown Prince. Should he prove unworthy, Shen Yan shall decide.”
Shen Yan picks up the vermilion brush and writes three words: “The Crown Prince is worthy.”
The first imperial decree the new emperor issues after ascending the throne is an order to kill him.
But Shen Yan has already written the Dasheng Code. Its first article states: “The law is above no one, not even the sovereign.”
“The vermilion brush may fade, but the law will not.”
