In the early years of the Jiaqing reign, Emperor Qianlong has abdicated in favor of Jiaqing but still firmly controls the affairs of state and the appointment of officials. Jiaqing is emperor in name, but in reality he is a puppet. Conflict simmers in secret between father and son, with murderous intent lurking beneath the surface. In the capital’s Chunhe opera troupe, the young martial actor Cheng Fuying and the female-role performer Cheng Caifeng are fellow apprentices as well as betrothed. Their lives in the performing arts and the court’s internal power struggles, once entirely separate, become intertwined when Jiaqing decides to eliminate Qianlong.
Cheng Caifeng is seized and brought into the palace. Officially, she is an outside performer at the Southern Bureau; in reality, she is to be used as Jiaqing’s secret weapon for assassinating Qianlong. In trying to save Caifeng, the Cheng family is destroyed. Cheng Fuying travels the martial world, facing danger at every turn, while Cheng Caifeng lives amid peril in the palace. The two are then drawn into the complicated connections between the secret folk sect known as the Heavenly Principle Society, the British embassy, and the Qing court.
The two protagonists struggle and scheme, using every means at their disposal to climb higher as their status and standing steadily rise. Cheng Fuying takes the military examinations and is appointed a third-rank imperial bodyguard, while Cheng Caifeng gives birth to the first prince and is promoted to Consort Jin. Yet under a rotten and brutal regime, the harder they struggle, the more deeply they are hurt. Cheng Fuying is subjected to castration and condemned to menial labor in the palace. To survive, Cheng Caifeng has no choice but to flee to a foreign land.
One of the clearest signs of the Qing dynasty’s decay is that no one feels safe, from the emperor praised by all the people to the actor scorned by everyone. Scheming and calculation, deceit and treachery: anything goes, all for the sake of survival.
The lengthy alternate-history novel Jade Explosion has an expansive structure and a tangled web of plotlines. It features a large cast of vividly drawn characters, an extraordinary plot full of suspense, lively narration, and witty prose.
The author himself thinks it is worth pursuing 🙂