During the Xuanhe era of the Northern Song Dynasty, the economy and culture are flourishing like never before, yet this humiliating age is on the brink of falling beneath the boots of foreign invaders. Its end will be the Jingkang Incident.
Emperor Zhao Ji is a master of painting and calligraphy, a man who reached the pinnacle of the arts but never learned how to rule. Under his reign, the Jin threaten the empire from without, while Fang La rises in rebellion within.
But what ultimately brings down the Song and forces its people to flee south: Cai Jing, or Tong Guan? Neither. It is a century-old affliction, the preference for civil officials over military ones, and a backbone too weak to stand firm.
Su Chen, who knows the course of history, arrives in the second year of Xuanhe. He wants to see a Song Dynasty with a backbone of iron, and change will begin at a manor beside the Bian River, outside the city of Bianliang.
How brief the splendor of Xuanhe, before the northern horsemen ride south and rivers run red with blood.
On Yashan, the last loyalists’ hearts still burn; in Lin’an’s storms, swords remain unsheathed.
When a man’s fury erupts, the heavens darken; a woman’s sorrow casts its shadow on the earth.
Flowing waters speak of lofty ambitions; green mountains stand witness to vows that they will rise.
