During the Xuanhe era of the Northern Song dynasty, An Hui, daughter of a censor, should have been looking forward to a brilliant future at her coming-of-age ceremony. Instead, her father’s impeachment of a treacherous official brings her family to ruin. Overnight, her jeweled hairpins are replaced by prison clothes. Clutching her father’s blood-written letter, she escapes with her wet nurse’s life-saving protection and crosses paths with Xiang Peng, the mysterious young master of the Tianji Pavilion. From the bloody clash at Qingfeng Ferry to the struggle over fragments of the imperial seal at Xiangguo Temple, the records of corrupt officials in The Conduct of All Officials and the black-iron fish tally lead them to uncover the shocking conspiracy of Privy Council envoy Zhao Yuanhao, who frames loyal subjects and colludes with foreign enemies.
To clear her family’s name, An Hui is forced into a sham marriage with a wealthy Jiangnan merchant. Xiang Peng risks his life to abduct her, only to become trapped in a deadly poison scheme. Ling Shuanghua’s betrayal destroys a Tianji Pavilion stronghold, while Han Siniang’s disguise skills make a daring body-double plan at the execution ground possible. As soul-severing incense shrouds the scene in a false-death haze and a blade finally pierces the ice-silk armor, these two lovers in a chaotic age break the deadlock with mechanisms from The Exploitation of the Works of Nature during the battles at Bian River and Chenqiao Station. Guided by their shared resolve to defy fate, they tear apart the net woven by the powerful.
From the women’s quarters to the imperial court, from the martial world to the battlefield, An Hui and Xiang Peng’s love is forged into steel through separation and loss. When the imperial seal finally sees daylight again, what they leave to history is not only the legend of a wrongful conviction overturned, but the undying brilliance of ants shaking a tree.
When her childhood sweetheart offers her poisoned wine and a blood-written letter appears in the wet nurse’s secret chamber, should she choose the betrayal of her own kin, or dance with her sworn enemy?
“Do you trust me?” Xiang Peng’s bloodied fingers brushed her brow.
An Hui drove the ice-silk armor into his chest. “I trust that when you die, you’ll be smiling.”
