I gave you my word, and half my life passed in turmoil. From the heavens above to the underworld below, in life or death, I will follow you.
At the end of the Xin Dynasty, the land was in chaos. Feng Yi, a county clerk, defied all counsel and joined Liu Xiu, a rebel leader caught in the turmoil. Thus began his life of endless campaigning, from which there was no turning back.
"I don't know when it began. I helped you ascend the throne, yet coveted your realm and your heart. You appointed me a worthy minister, made me a marquis, and bestowed titles on me, yet stripped me of my military command and scattered my troops, doing everything in your power to force me down the road of rebellion, with no way back... In truth, this was the pact we made from the very beginning. Why, now that the time has come, do you avoid speaking of it and blame everything on me?
"So in the end, you still can't bear to let me go."
P.S. The title refers to the ginkgo tree, also known as the Hanyang tree or the Gongsun tree. As it happens, the protagonist, Feng Yi, was born between the Western and Eastern Han dynasties, had the courtesy name Gongsun, was enfeoffed as the Marquis of Yangxia, and was known as the "General of the Great Tree." And so this story came to be.
Author's page:
Author's page (mostly Western historical fantasy):
A painfully self-indulgent Three Kingdoms story:
Western fantasy novels: Irish mythology novels: Medieval fantasy novel (abandoned):
I like Liu Xiu. Let's see what the conference will be like. I'd better work hard.