This is a long historical mystery and political intrigue novel. In the sixth year of the Yonghui era under Emperor Gaozong of Tang, on a snowy night in Chang’an, Chen Wang, a ninth-rank proofreader, discovers among the dusty old papers a private record that can “foretell the future.” It even describes secret deliberations about the emperor deposing one empress and installing another, and predicts celestial events and political developments just days away.
One document sets the whole world in motion. From then on, Chen Wang is dragged into the depths of power, fighting for his life between the historian’s brush and the blade. Palace secrets, factional strife at court, and mysterious assassins come one after another, while every clue points to the unseen hand behind the Court Diary, the eyes manipulating fate.
From the maelstrom of “deposing the king and installing Wu” to the shadows of “two sages ruling together,” Chen Wang gradually realizes that what he holds is not merely a draft of history, but the power to rewrite reality. As one prediction after another comes true, he must choose: remain a silent witness to history, or risk picking up the brush and writing a chapter of his own?
This is a deadly game of strategy, played over truth and lies, records and revisions. In the resplendent light and shadow of the Tang golden age, can an ordinary man uncover the past so carefully concealed and change the future that seems set in stone?
