Set across the reigns of four Qing emperors, this novel tells the legendary life of Peng Yulin, one of the late Qing’s “Four Great Ministers of the Restoration.” His extreme integrity, embodied in his Three Refusals, refusing money, office, and to spare his own life, forms the backbone of his character. At its heart is his steadfast love for his early sweetheart, Meigu, whom he honored by painting one hundred thousand plum blossoms after her untimely death. The story follows his journey from a frustrated student at a county school to commander of the Xiang Army’s navy, and finally to an ailing old man who volunteers to fight the French. Through this extraordinary figure, an anomaly in the world of power, the novel explores how an individual’s dignity can transcend fame and fortune on the eve of a corrupt empire’s collapse, becoming a solitary, undying light in the darkness of history.
Very nice, thank you