The Chronicles of Xuanzhen

Records of Wu: The Biography of Xuan Zhen: “If my friends in Luoyang ask after me, tell them my heart is as pure as ice in a jade pot.” This story follows sixteen-year-old Xie Yuan on the eve of the imperial examinations. Tempered by a crisis in the salt administration, he grinds Hui ink at the Suzhou examination hall and looks back on his years debating policy and investigating cases, distilling his family’s upright traditions and his ideals for governing the realm into his exam essay. Meanwhile, nobles at court work against him in secret, and Yue watches like a tiger waiting to pounce. Carrying an “icy heart” into the examination hall, Xie Yuan faces a test that is not only the starting point of his official career, but also the opening salvo in a fierce struggle between justice and political scheming.