Beneath the storm-tossed skies of the late Ming, a thunderclap from the southwest is about to ring out.
In the fifteenth year of the Chongzhen reign, as the Ming dynasty teeters between the fires of war beyond the passes and rebel forces sweeping across the Central Plains, the land of Shuixi in the southwest reaches its darkest hour. The Pacification Commissioner An Wei “dies suddenly” while on tour. The iron-clad troops of Wu Sangui, a fierce Ming general, soon march into his residence. An imperial edict accusing the family of “colluding with bandits and plotting treason” pushes the An clan of Shuixi, which has dominated the southwest for centuries, to the brink of annihilation.
Seventeen-year-old A Guo goes from a sheltered family treasure to a lamb led to slaughter overnight. The hidden mark of a blade on her father’s jade pendant is a silent accusation of the conspiracy. Her family’s blood stains the maple leaves, and kindles a fire in her eyes that will never go out. This is not the end of her fate, but the beginning of a queen’s rise.
See how a girl orphaned against her will learns to make her own moves amid the tears and blood of her loved ones and the survival of her people. See her cast off her skirts and don armor, maneuvering among brutal Ming generals, chieftains with their own agendas, fierce Yi tribes, and rebels waiting for an opportunity. See how she wields wisdom and courage as her spear, and her deep-rooted love for this land as her shield, carving out a path to survival for her people in the cracks of history and ultimately becoming the Shuixi Queen, whose rise makes the entire southwest tremble.
This is no simple tale of revenge, but a sweeping epic. It tells of one woman’s resilience, the backbone of a people, and the fiercest clashes of humanity and power, loyalty and betrayal, survival and dignity beneath the crushing weight of the times. Open this book and step into an age of constant warfare and heroes, where...
