During the Jingkang Catastrophe, Bianliang fell.
Su Yanzhi's father died unjustly after impeaching Qin Hui. His mother wept until she went blind, then fled south with him. Though they took shelter under another's roof, his uncle repeatedly coveted their family estate.
After ten years of keeping his head down, he sat the prefectural and metropolitan examinations as a penniless scholar. A single essay on frontier strategy astonished the court, and he finally earned an honorific name at the palace examination, stepping into Lin'an's officialdom.
At court, Qin Hui wielded absolute power, with his followers everywhere. Beyond the clash of armies, northern horsemen watched hungrily as the realm lay shattered.
He dared not forget his father's murder, nor the nation's humiliation. Exploiting Zhao Gou's desire to preserve his life and throne, he outmaneuvered Qin Hui's followers to protect military provisions. With his talent for statecraft, he united the forces resisting the Jin and paved the way for Yue Fei's campaigns.
From a poor examination candidate living under another's roof to Deputy Privy Councillor under Emperor Xiaozong; from a lone, daring youth seeking revenge for his father to a strategist who held up half the Song realm.
In the turmoil that followed the Song's retreat south, Su Yan wielded words as a blade and strategy as armor, writing a legend of a scholar's steely resolve and a desperate bid to turn the tide.
