Fingerprints on the Blade

When archivist Dr. Shen Yi deciphers a hidden bamboo manuscript buried with a Zhou dynasty tomb, she uncovers the true account of the 680 BC assassination of Zhengzi—a regicide enabled not by one traitor, but by the deliberate silence of an entire court. Each mute courtier left a fingerprint on the murder weapon. Realizing this evidence could dismantle the founding myth of the modern Zheng successor state, she prepares to publish. Before she can, she is found dead, ruled a suicide. Her former student must trace fingerprints both ancient and fresh, discovering that those who stay silent today are still pressing their fingers onto the blade.