Hidden Blade on the Jade Steps

Xie Zhiwei returns to Zhaojing with her younger brother to clear the name of their unjustly killed father, entering the palace as a female scribe to investigate an old case involving the grain transport system. She and the Third Prince, Xiao Chengheng, move from suspicion and confrontation to fighting side by side, yet their secrets and the power struggles around them repeatedly drive them apart. As the old case draws in the Chancellor's household, military provisions, and palace intrigue, Zhiwei must choose between family, truth, and love. In the end, she not only clears the Xie family's name but turns her personal quest for justice into a push for institutional reform, and she and Chengheng each keep their edge as they walk forward together into the rest of their lives.