The Swallow Falls, the Crow Cries - A. Introduction

I was beaten with rods for bringing charges against the powerful.

As I waited to die in a ruined temple, the prefect’s daughter arrived in her bridal sedan to shelter from the rain.

Every word steeped in blood and grief, I told her what had been done to me.

She cut me off coldly.

“Under my father’s rule, Suizhou knows only peace. There cannot be a single wrongful conviction here.

“First you falsely accused my brother of murder. Now you dare slander my father, claiming he perverted the law to protect his own.

“Women of the pleasure houses really do choose their own degradation.”

The downpour eased. Wedding horns rang out.

When the bridal sedan rose again, the woman sitting inside, beneath the phoenix crown and embroidered wedding cape, was me.

I had exchanged our souls, stolen her body and her place.

In her place, I would marry my old lover—the man who had sent me to my death.