The First Tale of the Loyal Martyr: The Blood-Red Fish Pendant

There is a great martial arts novel whose ending leaves readers feeling regret and sorrow. What is the jianghu? What is wuxia? What is the love between men and women? Without the tragic grandeur of a nation falling and families being torn apart, without the origins of strife in a chaotic age, who could truly feel life's misery and helplessness? Set against the Jin-Song wars at the end of the Northern Song dynasty, this novel connects with the historical period of Jin Yong's great work, Tianlong Babu. It tells the story of the Lu family's brother and sister, bringing together the people and events of this historical period, along with the martial arts characters Jin Yong created for it, and unfolds the entire story along two main plotlines. Through the lens of history, it seeks to define the three questions above. The characters who appear in this novel run throughout its central story, each with a complex personality. The greatest highlight is the changing inner life of the heroine, Lu Yurou, as she passes through different stages amid the turmoil of her times. Her life experiences also unfold alongside the course of history, allowing readers to feel the tragic life she endures in those chaotic years. Why turn to a song of lament? Because the winds of chaos rise, and there is no escape. The title comes from the line "The universe preserves this lone, loyal soul" in "Xijiang Yue: Reflections on My Late Father's Manuscript," a poem by the Ming dynasty poet Liu Shuying, and echoes the meaning of the line "White-haired and haggard, I lie by the marsh; only Heaven and Earth can bear witness to my solitary loyalty" in "Two Poems on My Grief," a representative work by the Song dynasty poet Lu You.