Shattered Mountains and Rivers

An Qingxu has retreated to Ye City (Xiangzhou), where the Tang court has assembled hundreds of thousands of troops under nine military governors, including Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi, to surround him. But the campaign has dragged on, the soldiers are exhausted, no one commands the armies as a whole, and conflicts are rife. Shi Siming has surrendered and rebelled again in Fanyang (Youzhou), where he is arming and drilling his troops. The distant thunder of his forces marching south can almost be heard. Hengzhou (Zhending), a vital logistics hub near the front lines in Hebei Circuit, is under immense pressure to transport supplies and faces a direct threat from the rebels to the north. Panic fills the city as everyone senses a storm on the horizon.

The protagonist, Su Qing, courtesy name Wenhui, is secretly the last surviving member of the false chancellor Chen Xilie’s faction. Hiding his identity, he takes refuge in the office of Wang Jin, military commissioner of Hengzhou, where he serves as a low-ranking supply clerk, struggling each day with cold paperwork and the crushing pressure of staying alive.