Ferrying Across the River in a Parting Boat

Shen Yi, the Northern Garrison General, is falsely accused, and his entire family is executed. His sole surviving heir, Shen Ci, is rescued by his father’s former subordinates. Carrying a secret edict from the late emperor and The Art of Unorthodox War, which contains a map to the military treasury, he goes into hiding among the common folk, disguising himself as a street performer as he awaits a chance to clear his family’s name. The Crown Prince and the imperial uncle covet these two “pieces of evidence” and lay a vast trap. Shen Ci joins forces with the young girl Azao, Imperial Censor Su Qingyan, and a band of his father’s former subordinates. Using their troupe as cover, they employ tricks of the jianghu, from face-changing to sleight of hand, to evade the Crown Prince’s trusted aides and the imperial uncle’s plots, moving carefully at every turn. Amid flashing blades and dancing shadows, Shen Ci uncovers the truth behind the old false accusation of treason. In the turmoil of a fractured age, he also unites a group of seemingly unrelated people, searching for a slim chance to clear his family’s name amid the schemes of the powerful. This life-or-death struggle ultimately concerns not only his family’s innocence, but also the meaning of justice and the nature of the human heart.

① The setting is a partially fictionalized version of the Song dynasty.

② No romance plot.