Fifteen years ago, the entire Shen family was massacred. Only eleven-year-old Shen Hanzhou survived, pulled alive from a heap of corpses. The man who saved him was Su Dingfang, Commander of the Southern Command of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, a man who should have stopped the slaughter but arrived half an hour too late.
Fifteen years later, Shen Hanzhou is the youngest commander of a thousand in the Northern Command, renowned in the capital for his Embroidered Spring Saber and his ability to see through people's hearts. But his quiet life is shattered when he turns twenty-six: Su Dingfang is detained by the Crown Prince, the Jiangnan Salt Transport Commissioner dies under mysterious circumstances, and a forged Southern Command token points every accusation at the mentor who once saved him.
As Shen Hanzhou investigates, he uncovers three ledgers of blood capable of bringing down half the court. They record not only the embezzlement of six million taels in military pay, but also the truth behind the massacre of his family fifteen years ago. The person who masterminded it all still sits high in the imperial court, wielding power over the realm.
At the same time, a secret letter from Xiliang brings news that makes his heart stop: his sister, Shen Nanxing, missing for fifteen years, is still alive. Now commander of Xiliang's covert forces, she is heading for the capital with their mother's jade pendant and a company of death-sworn warriors.
Three days. Three ledgers. One jade pendant tied to the fate of the nation. The Crown Prince, powerful ministers, and the Embroidered Uniform Guard clash in the capital's dark streets. Shen Hanzhou must choose between his mentor's life, his family's wrongful death, and the fate of the nation. But where should the Embroidered Spring Saber in his hand fall: on his enemy, or on the past?
This is a tragic tale of mentor and disciple, lies and redemption, and a revenge plot fifteen years in the making.
