The impoverished scholar Lu Mingyuan grows up under the guidance of his mentor, Chen Yanqiu. Carrying the belief in “conducting oneself with integrity,” embodied by his family’s heirloom jade pendant, he resolves to change his fate through the imperial examinations. Failing the exams five times in a row exposes the dark dealings of the powerful. Then, witnessing his mentor’s brutal death shatters his illusions about the old dynasty for good. This novel reveals the tragic cycle of how an idealist gradually grows scales while slaying the dragon, only to be devoured by the System he helped build.
