The fourteenth year of the Zhengtong era, on the eve of the Tumu Crisis.
A falsified border defense map. Five hundred thousand soldiers are about to march into a death trap.
A bloodstained jade pendant with a broken corner. Yang Jichuan, a sixth-rank secretary, collapses in the arms of Shen Yan, a low-ranking Jinyiwei officer, and leaves behind his final words: “The military map... is fake... the Oirat...”
The capital seethes with intrigue. The powerful eunuch Wang Zhen holds sway, while Vice Minister of War Yu Qian is reprimanded for repeatedly speaking out. Shen Yan could have pretended not to hear, but the jade pendant and the dying man's gaze draw him, step by step, into a vast conspiracy engulfing the court, the frontier garrisons, and the hearts of the people.
From the shadowy alleys of the capital to the isolated fortress at Dushikou, from secret blade of the Jinyiwei to heir to the art of keeping one's true strength hidden, he bears nine red cords and nine lives. Between loyalty and conscience, survival and principle, he carves out a bloody path.
When the truth is finally revealed, he discovers that the path he has pursued for so long was one someone had laid out for him from the very beginning...
Who, exactly, is the person who has been “waiting for you for so long”?
