[Strong female lead + political intrigue + mysterious cases + ensemble power struggle + no System + not a mindless power fantasy]
A fire breaks out in the North Garrison Commander's dungeon. Three Embroidered Uniform Guard officers are pinned to death before a stone monument inscribed with the law, each by a Spring-and-Autumn Blade.
Every piece of evidence points to a powerful minister at court.
New Embroidered Uniform Guard recruit Wei Xun is ordered to investigate, only to discover that a blade is never the only thing that kills.
A single law can create countless vengeful ghosts.
A single elixir can make the poor into test subjects.
A single shipload of government salt can drive honest folk to become bandits.
A single claim of divine mandate can make the people die alongside the emperor.
When the court kills in the name of the law, physicians kill in the name of medicine, and the martial world devours people in the name of freedom, Wei Xun finally understands:
Some truths must never be brought before a court, and some villains will never live to face justice.
So she burns the evidence, saves death-row prisoners, executes powerful ministers, and seizes the salt routes. From an insignificant member of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, she builds the fearsome organization known throughout the land as the Yellow Springs.
She rescues Liu Hui, the least favored prince, from a mountain of corpses and rivers of blood, helping him gather refugees, recruit border troops, contend for the Nine Provinces, and defy the mandate of heaven.
People say that when the Dark Blade appears, the Bright Dragon is doomed.
But Liu Hui places his life in her hands:
“If this land must have an emperor, then I will be one.”
“And if the emperor starts devouring people too, Wei Xun, you must cut me down.”
From the Spring-and-Autumn Blade murders to the struggle for the Nine Provinces, from the dragon veins of Sizhou to the Dark Bird illuminating the imperial palace.
The one she means to strike down has never been any particular emperor.
The nine scrolls were never meant to complete some set of objects. They are meant to sever the mandate of heaven, hanging over all living beings and demanding the sacrifice of their flesh and blood.
The day the cold blade leaves its sheath, the fate of the land will change.
