The Calamity of Three Rivers

Synopsis of Flames of War Across Three Rivers

In the sixth year of the Qianfu era, Huang Chao breaches Tong Pass. The righteous wanderer Qin Canglan saves Imperial Censor Pei Wo and finds a fragment of a military tally engraved with the words “Secret Cache.” He later meets the songstress Su Ningmei, and the two gradually fall in love. The tally is stolen and split into three pieces, which end up scattered across the martial world and Shaolin. Zhu Wen stirs up chaos to seize the pieces. After Emperor Xizong flees to Shu, Qin Canglan escorts Pei Wo there to seek reinforcements. To save Qin Canglan, who has been poisoned with the deadly Qianji toxin, Su Ningmei enters Medicine King Valley to cultivate the Jade Maiden Heart Sutra.

During the campaign to quell rebellion in Shu, the fragments are joined together and reveal the words “Chang'an Imperial Mausoleum.” Everyone suspects the Imperial Seal is hidden there. As Zhu Wen's power grows, he hosts a Hongmen banquet and massacres a branch of the Beggars' Sect. Qin Canglan unites martial-world factions into an alliance, joined by the Demon Cult's holy maiden, Liu Qingyan. The three form a close bond. Liu Qingyan secretly loves Qin Canglan but silently guards him. Su Ningmei is once gravely wounded protecting the tally. The Valley Master of Medicine King Valley saves her, but foretells “three lifetimes of tribulation.”

After Huang Chao's defeat and death, the regional military governors turn on one another. Qin Canglan is chosen as leader of the martial alliance. He leads his people to find the third fragment, then infiltrates Qianling, only to discover that Zhu Wen has already stolen the Imperial Seal. Zhu Wen hastens his usurpation of the Tang, deposing Emperor Zhaozong and enthroning Emperor Ai. The martial alliance fractures from within, but Qin Canglan rallies the people under the banner of “protecting the common folk.” In the fourth year of Tianyou, Zhu Wen establishes the Later Liang and brings down the Tang. Qin Canglan tracks the Imperial Seal to Dangshan, where he is ambushed and Su Ningmei is gravely wounded.

Qin Canglan and Liu Qingyan journey to the Tianshan Mountains in search of an Ice-Soul Snow Lotus to save Su Ningmei. Liu Qingyan sacrifices herself alongside Zhu Yougui to protect the lotus. After Qin Canglan saves Su Ningmei, he intercepts the ship carrying the Imperial Seal on the Bian River, and the seal sinks beneath the water. When Zhu Wen offers him a position, Qin Canglan decides to head to Jiangnan with Su Ningmei and seek the help of an eccentric under the command of Qian Liu of Wuyue to find the seal, setting up the sequel, The Tragic Song of Rivers and Mountains.