ThecityofChang'anishauntedbyaseriesofmysteriousmurders,andthecrimesceneshaveonethingincommon-sevenlargewordswritteninblood:"Abolishtheempress,anewemperorrises."Therumorsspreadquickly,raisingdoubtsamongofficials.Tocalmtheheartsofthepeopleandstabilizethegovernance,EmpressWuorderedtheministeroftheCourtofofJudicialReview,DiRenjie,tosolvethemurderswithinfivedays.ChiefEunuchSongYiassignedLiuYiyioftheShenyuDepartmenttohelphimwiththecase.Thetwosecretlycompetedtosolvethecasefasterthantheother,buttheykeptrunningintoobstaclesintheirinvestigation.TheywereevenalmostinjuredbyGeneralBaitong,whosebodysuddenlycametolifeatmidnight.Themastermindbehindthesceneisapowerfulfigure,andthemysteriousmaskedmanandthedancerfromsouthernXinjiangseemedtobearulteriormotives.DiRenjieandhisassociatesareincreasinglyhamperedintheirinvestigation.Asthefive-daydeadlinedrawsnearerthanever,canDiRenjieuncovertherealculpritbehindthecase?