[2] The Liang and Ling families were originally relatives during the reign of Emperor Yongzheng of the Qing Dynasty, but they became enemies due to feng shui issues.
Emperor Yongzheng sent an imperial envoy to investigate the case openly and secretly, and finally redressed the Liang family.
The work uses ancient stories to attack the corrupt officials of the time, but it affirms the supreme ruler and shows a reformist tendency.
[1] Fong argued that the manipulation received inspiration from foreign models, Cantonese ballads, and traditional Chinese crime stories (gongan).
[3] Robert E. Hegel, author of a book review of The Chinese Novel at the Turn of the Century, wrote that Fong corrected an opinion about A Strange Case of Nine Murders that had been written by Hu Shih.