In the chaotic Northern and Southern Dynasties, a letter conceals a storm of intrigue.
Qian Moli, the daughter of a family in the household of the Vice Minister of Rites, has a photographic memory and can imitate any handwriting in the land. She had hoped to keep a low profile, but at a poetry gathering in the Orchid Pavilion, she spots a coded message in an ancient painting, one that concerns the whereabouts of the Tiger Tally commanding one hundred thousand troops. From then on, she is drawn into a vortex of intrigue.
Ou Fang, a marquis from a humble family, has won countless victories on the battlefield. Sixteen years ago, his father was unjustly executed for treason in the Yongning Case, leaving his orphaned son with a deep-seated vendetta. When a lone courtier meets a noble young woman, one seeking to protect himself and the other to clear her family's name, two isolated souls are forced into an alliance.
Three volumes of letters gradually reveal the raging tides beneath the false splendor of a golden age: a struggle among princes for the throne, feuding aristocratic clans, and enemy infiltration. They also expose the shocking secret that the current emperor seized the throne with an imperial edict forged in another's name. Qian Moli turns her private quarters into a game board and her brush into a weapon, weaving a web of intelligence. Ou Fang makes the battlefield his board and his longsword his shield, pressing forward amid the blades and shadows of court politics.
From an exchange of favors to entrusting each other with their lives, from keeping their heads down to controlling the game themselves, she learns to break through deadlocks with her sharpness, while he learns to wear trust as armor. When the full truth of the letters finally comes to light and the mystery of their identities is solved, she discovers that he is the last survivor of the former dynasty, and he realizes that she is where he belongs.
“These letters conceal more than military power and treasures. They hide the raging tides beneath the false splendor of a golden age. Now, we'll stir those waters with our own hands!”
In the game of a turbulent age, they use their wits as pieces and their loyalty as the board, breaking free of the trap. Once the dust settles, will they retire from the world or stand together to defend the realm? Those letters will ultimately become a missive that writes the future.
A tale of power and intrigue hidden between brushstrokes, and a passionate romance that begins with schemes and ends in lifelong devotion.
