How could she, an ordinary Dengzhou girl, a marriage contract, and an ordinary civilian injury case stir up the nerves of the entire Northern Song Dynasty? Two generations of emperors and more than a dozen ministers with separate biographies in the "History of the Song Dynasty" participated in the debate. From the local to the central government, the case was not complicated. Why did the debate become more confusing? The verdict was overturned several times, the emperor repeatedly issued edicts, and his subordinates especially wrote letters in defense. Where did the motivation come from? Not only at the time, it eventually became the most eye-catching case in the history of ancient Chinese legal system. Whether it is official history or unofficial history, it has been debated for thousands of years, and there is still no consensus. Why is this?
From the closest friends to incompatible political enemies, what kind of psychological journey did Wang Anshi and Sima Guang go through. A generation of writers and a generation of historians met in the same era, stood in the same court, and defended their respective ideals to the death.