Related Cases (13)
Related Novels (6)
Related Chapters (4)
The Ghost of a Poet
Words: 2993 · Source Novel:: The Anonymous Blade
Lin and Wei delve into the historical case of Hu Zhongzao, executed in 1755 for poems deemed anti-Manchu by the Qianlong Emperor. They realize the modern killer group has ritualized the ancient practice: they hunt "word criminals" online, twist metaphorical language into digital confessions, and leave encrypted excerpts from the inquisition records at each scene. The investigation exposes a decentralized network where ordinary netizens vote for executions, and an enigmatic hacker known only as "The Emendator" serves as the blade, weaponizing the city's nervous system to eliminate chosen targets.
The Emperor’s Audit
Words: 2654 · Source Novel:: The Palisade’s Salt Gate
Akdun’s memorial reaches the Qianlong Emperor through a disgraced scholar relative, echoing the Lianghuai salt scandal. Furious, the emperor dispatches imperial commissioners, who unearth the systemic graft. Tao is publicly beheaded, and the intentional vagueness in the salt code is revised. The surviving Zhaos are pardoned, but the Palisade remains. Akdun is reinstated, yet he gazes at the wall and understands that every law carries a hidden door for those who hold the key.
The Final Edict
Words: 4078 · Source Novel:: The Con of Cons
With his final breath of freedom, Shen Han performs his masterpiece. He composes a memorial to the Qianlong Emperor—who has just ascended the throne and is desperate to eclipse his father's legacy—disguising Wu Mingyuan's vast criminal network as a clandestine "Ming restorationist" conspiracy that the Yongzheng regime failed to detect. When the Imperial Guards descend, Wu realizes with delight that he has been caught in a game with absolutely no reason, orchestrated by an Emperor who kills simply to assert existence. Wu is carved into pieces, but Shen Han uses the chaos to stage his death by fire, emerging with a new face. The novel closes with him disappearing into a northern frontier town, a ghost free to write a life unbound by history—proving that in a world of predators, survival is the ultimate con.
The Leisure of Censors
Words: 3058 · Source Novel:: The Ink-Stained Domino
With the Qianlong Emperor’s ascension, amnesties flood the empire, but Shanbu’s victims are forgotten in deliberate administrative silence. An aging Zhang Wu is released into a world where the dead never existed. He discovers that Shanbu, now promoted, had forged the Lu Shengnan “prophecy” scroll himself, exploiting the original inkblot accident to manufacture a career-making case. When Zhang anonymously delivers proof to the upright censor Li Fangying, Li recognizes the chain of implication reaches the new emperor. He buries the evidence, visiting Shanbu for tea instead.