A Minor Official in the Northern Song Dynasty

In the mid-Northern Song Dynasty, in Yidu County of Jingdong Circuit, tavern owner Zhao Degui has three sons and a daughter. His eldest, Zhao Moru, devotes himself to studying the classics. His second son, Zhao Moming, is sharp-tongued and loves showing off his learning. His third son, twelve-year-old Zhao Moxuan, is clever and quick-witted with a photographic memory, but hates studying. His youngest, ten-year-old Zhao Moyun, is thoughtful and well-behaved on the surface, but has a mind of her own. Their father sends Zhao Moxuan to the county yamen as a trainee, where he starts as a menial worker and rotates through its six departments. Thanks to his extraordinary talent, he solves one strange case after another, rising step by step from trainee to advisor and then to supervisory official. Zhao Moyun grows up in the family distillery, secretly learns how to brew, and disguises herself as a boy to gather information about the world. She becomes close friends with Su Wanqing, the prefect’s illegitimate daughter, and quietly helps her father and brothers navigate crises. It is the era of Wang Anshi’s reforms, with policies on green sprouts loans, labor service exemptions, land surveys and tax equalization, and state trade being rolled out one after another. From the perspective of a low-ranking local official, Zhao Moxuan witnesses the clash between the ideals of reform and the difficulties of putting them into practice. Beyond the inner chambers, Zhao Moyun uses her own way as a woman to maneuver among the powerful in the marketplace. Together, the siblings take on their separate roles, one inside and one outside, and find their own paths through the ups and downs of official life, the fortunes of their family, and tangled affections.