From the Late Yuan to the Early Ming: I Built a Six-Hundred-Year Jinshi Clan

For six hundred years, the Brocade Guard clan has protected the empire from the shadows. From the chaos at the end of the Yuan Dynasty to the glory of the Great Ming, the Xiao clan wielded modern criminal-investigation techniques to forge a blade hidden in darkness. They are not bloodthirsty lackeys, but precise wielders of the knife: using psychology to break down an enemy's defenses, intelligence networks to uncover the undercurrents sweeping the realm, and chains of evidence to restore the truth. The Lan Yu case, the Jingnan Campaign, the Tumu Crisis... Behind every crisis that threatened the empire, the Xiao family was quietly at work. They walk the line between imperial power and justice. They must carry out the emperor's “dirty work” while holding fast to the principle of neither wrongfully condemning nor letting anyone escape. Facing accusations from civil officials, infighting among eunuchs, and the emperor's suspicions, how can the heirs of the Xiao clan dance on the edge of a blade? “Power is like fire: it can consume the world, or keep you warm. In the darkness of the realm, someone must carry a lamp.” The Xiao Clan's Family Precepts: a solitary lamp in the night, burning for the Great Ming.