A truth buried in blood, a revenge that turns the whole realm into a chessboard.
Seven years ago, on the towering Meiling Mountains of the northern frontier, the Blazing Flame Young Marshal Jiang Han and thirty thousand soldiers were branded traitors and perished in a sea of fire. Seven years later, a new name was carved atop the Langya List: "The Qilin Genius, Su Zhe."
He returned to Jinling in a small boat, his body ravaged by illness but his mind a master of flawless schemes. The young marshal of the past had become a strategist stirring up storms in the capital, maneuvering between the Crown Prince and Prince Yu in their battle for the throne. With a few words and a laugh, he could turn the court upside down. The old bones in the dry well beneath Lanyuan, the wronged souls shedding tears of blood on Binzhou's fertile soil, all became blades in his hands as he steadily stripped his enemies of their power.
Yet the path of revenge was shrouded in mist. His once-dearest friend, Prince Jing Xiao Jingyan, had become the most distant of the princes. His former betrothed, Commandery Princess Nihuang, was close enough to touch, yet he dared not acknowledge her. As the Shadow Bureau's influence, Xie Yu's suspicions, and Xia Jiang's poisonous schemes surged toward him like a tide, Jiang Han had no choice but to use himself as bait and dance on the edge of a blade to find a chance at survival.
From the clash of blades at a night banquet in the Marquis of Ning's residence to the desperate fires of war at the Ji'an Mountain hunting palace; from his impassioned plea for justice in the Golden Hall to his resolute turn amid the snowstorms of the northern frontier. He must not only clear his name, but also find a righteous path forward for this land, caught between imperial power, intrigue, and national crisis.
"I came back not to destroy, but to rebuild."
This is the ultimate contest of strategy and conviction. When the bloody truth sealed away for seven years finally comes to light, will it bring long-overdue justice, or another farewell paid for with a life?
See how a lone spirit from the cold river uses his searing intellect to melt the snow and storms, and rekindle the righteousness of the world.
