Political intrigue + scheming + villains + power struggles
In the first year of the Zhenghe era, heavy snow blanketed Chang’an. In his declining years, Emperor Wu of Han, Liu Che, was a great ruler grown old, increasingly consumed by suspicion. High above in Ganquan Palace, he treated the realm as a chessboard and his ministers as pieces.
On one side stood the benevolent Crown Prince Liu Ju, who was gradually losing the emperor’s favor, backed by the deeply entrenched military power of the Wei clan. On the other stood Lady Gouyi, who held a jade hook in her hand and had suddenly won the emperor’s favor, backed by the long-dormant Chu shamanic forces and disgruntled officials. The auspicious sign of the “Gate of Yao’s Mother” did not herald Heaven’s will, but human schemes.
The harsh official Jiang Chong wielded two sharp blades, the “Tax Assessment Edict” and the “Witchcraft Case,” as he carried out his imperial orders and trumped up charges. An old account at the Water Balance Commandant’s Office and the bizarre death of an aged clerk were like a boulder cast into stagnant waters. The ripples quickly spread to the Eastern Palace, ultimately brewing into the witchcraft calamity that shook the foundations of the empire.
Amid the storm that engulfed the entire empire, the infant Liu Bingyi, great-grandson of the emperor and a descendant of Crown Prince Liu Ju, was not spared. He was thrown into the dark, airless Prison of the Commandery Residence. The fortunes of the Shangguan family, whose daughter’s fate was closely bound to his, had long been entangled in this game of power.
Han Palace: The Gouyi Gambit takes you into the treacherous court of Emperor Wu’s later years. Witness how power twists human nature, and how a carefully laid game grows more perilous with every move, until rivers of blood flow. Amid the ruins and despair, how will the faint stirrings of an imperial bloodline and the strength of enduring bonds find a glimmer of hope deep within this merciless Han palace?
