Tian Haoli is a Litigation Master. Monkey visits Tian in his dreams and speaks to him in his head while he is awake. One day, Monkey tells him there is someone at the door. It is Li Xiaoyi, a shy woman who needs help. She mortgaged her land to a wealthy distant cousin of her late husband, Jie. She paid Jie back, but he claims she stopped making loan payments, and based on the contract they inked, her land is now his.

At court, Magistrate Yi hears their complaint. Tian claims to be Li’s cousin so he can represent her, saying that since all men are brothers according to Confucius, he and Li are related. The Magistrate curses Tian’s clever tongue. Urged on by the Monkey King, he changes the terms of the contract, adding a single stroke to a character that completely alters its meaning. The Magistrate convicts Jie and sends him to jail.

A week later, Li is back. Her brother, Xiaojing, is a wanted man now staying with her. He had been a servant of the scholar Xu Jun, accused of plotting against the emperor. The Blood Drops, the emperor’s “eyes and talons” (374) are chasing him.