The Unknown Adviser

This is a fictional historical novel about Mu Qing, a strategist who worked behind the scenes of Song Taizu Zhao Kuangyin, and Zhao Kuangyin as seen through Mu Qing's eyes. The story makes some imaginative changes to historical events, without any intent to mislead. With Mu Qing's guidance, Zhao Kuangyin is transformed from a brash warrior into an emperor for the ages. In the end, after the strange death of Emperor Taizu Zhao Kuangyin following a drunken episode, Mu Qing refuses to go on living after his death and dies consumed by grief.