Inkstone for the Realm

Shen Yan, a poor scholar's son, lost his father Shen Bo'an to a wrongful death after being framed in a corruption case involving the Jiangnan river works. Shen Yan eavesdropped on lessons outside the examination hall for seventy-three days until Lu Heng, the Chancellor of the Imperial College, took notice of him and admitted him to the Tianlu Academy, where he devoted himself to clearing his father's name. Inside the academy, the sons of noble families constantly ostracized him, but Shen Yan befriended Gu Mingyuan, Su Wanqing—a skilled physician—and others to investigate the case together. Following the clue that the river works victims were poisoned with arsenic, they pursued the truth across the capital and Jiangnan, only to repeatedly encounter witnesses murdered and evidence destroyed. The clues kept reversing, suspicion fell on Lu Heng, and a suspicious ledger left behind by his father suddenly surfaced.