Ouyang Shuhong, the youngest commander of Chu’s Red Feather Camp, lost his family seventeen years ago in a wrongful case involving the Northern Garrison Army. After years of biding his time, he returns to court under the identity of Young Master Yun Mo, the “greatest talent south of the Yangtze.” At his side are the Five Yama Kings, unrivaled in martial prowess, and the Five Prodigies, unmatched in their schemes. With open strategy, he breaks the web of power woven by the Eight Ministries; with the forces of the martial world, he lays secret moves across the board, drawing ever closer to the truth behind the blood feud that destroyed his family.
From debating the emperor during the palace examinations to setting the grain transports ablaze, from forming an alliance with a princess to maneuvering against the Xiongnu in secret, he remains true to one vow: “I never wanted the throne. I want the bones of loyal subjects spared the stain of false accusations, and the poor to stand tall in court.” When every minister of the Eight Ministries has been replaced by a disciple of the Red Feather Sect, and the Chancellor’s residence crumbles to the sound of snapping strings, the cracked tiger tally is finally made whole. He chooses to return the imperial seal to the royal family, then walks alone into the martial world, carrying a body wrapped in snow and wind.
This is a story of revenge, but it is about more than revenge. Amid the blades and schemes of court politics, impoverished scholars question the justice of Heaven; amid the currents of palace intrigue, a woman takes up her sword and rewrites history. What remains at the end is the sigh sung for a hundred years before the forest of steles on a snowy night: “The annals of history are barely half a sheet of paper. Better to let Red Feather split the sky with light.”
The writing style is okay, and the beginning is very attractive.