During the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, although the empire was prosperous on the outside, it was decayed on the inside. In the court, party disputes are raging; deep in the palace, the emperor's heart is unpredictable; in the rivers and lakes, undercurrents are surging.
The story begins with an imperial examination fraud case that shocked Jiangnan. Gu Yuanzhou, a young scholar, was supposed to be a candidate for the examination, but he was innocently involved in the whirlpool, was imprisoned, and his family was ruined. Under the crushing fate of fate, he was forced to abandon his identity, sneak into the darkness, and become a dangerous "shadow" among the Jinyi Guards.
From a frail scholar to a cold-faced Yama, he walks on the edge of light and darkness. Around him are Su Banxia, a confidante with outstanding medical skills and a mysterious life experience, Lu Gang, a loyal and upright guard of Qianhu, who vows to wipe out the world's haze, and Zhang Juzheng, the chief minister of the cabinet, who struggles painfully between power and ideals.
This is a bet of life and death with a small gain. Gu Yuanzhou used himself as a pawn, dealing with the turbulent imperial power, constant party struggles and murderous rivers and lakes. What he wants to overthrow is not only the enemy who framed him, but also the entire crumbling decadent era. But when he got infinitely close to the core of power, he found that the truth was far crueler than imagined...
Book title
