Core secret: Emperor Kangxi Xuanye’s biological father was actually Hong Chengchou, a Ming official who surrendered to the Qing.
Time span: 1639, the Battle of Songjin, to 1722, the death of Emperor Kangxi.
Dual-protagonist structure: The story begins from Hong Chengchou’s perspective, then moves forward through Xuanye’s perspective.
Themes: The mystery of identity, anxieties over legitimacy, cultural integration, and an individual’s struggle amid the tides of history.
