The Eunuch's Retirement

“The sharpest blade in the Great Yan Dynasty isn’t the Raven Guard, but the exquisitely clever mind of Wei Yuan, the eunuch who holds the imperial seal.” He is Wei Yuan, the chief eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial. After thirty-two years in the palace since his castration, he lays a vast web under the pretense of “retirement,” all to draw out the venomous snake hidden deep within the court. He is Xiao Zhi, the young emperor. He may seem like a puppet, but years of patience have already honed his fangs. He uses the “eunuch faction” to carry out the purge of corrupt officials around the throne. A game of power that shifts from sovereign and subject, to master and servant, to “accomplices.” When the late emperor’s secret edict comes to light and the empress dowager’s deadly schemes close in, will the mask of loyalty be torn away, or will the pawn used for his own ends become the tender weakness of his heart? “Half my empire is yours. My life is yours to command, too.” “Your Majesty, all this servant asks is that after death… he have a place to be buried, with no name on the gravestone.” Theme: He is both the white moonlight and the cinnabar mole.