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On the seventh day of August in the eighth year of Chongde in the Qing Dynasty, the news that Huang Taiji fell from his horse in Tiebei Mountain reached Shengjing City, causing an uproar. Prince Rui, Dorgon, is eyeing the throne. The eldest son of the emperor, Hauge, is bound to win the Antlers throne. Each of the eight banners is its master, and a coup is imminent. In order to protect the overall situation, the beautiful and intelligent Concubine Zhuang concealed Huang Taiji's true condition from the outside. On the other hand, she secretly contacted loyal and resourceful people and tried every means to stabilize the status of Qingning Palace. On the ninth day of August, Huang Taiji suddenly collapsed. The grieving concubine of Qingning Palace had no time to wipe away her tears when she felt the coldness from the polished steel knife in the hands of the Dorgon brothers. Whether to live or die, to die together, or to endure humiliation, seek common ground while reserving differences, and seek long-term development of the Qing Dynasty, Xiaozhuang was thinking and wandering painfully... In the end, she was good at judging the situation and seized the opportunity of history and made an astonishing decision...

The author vividly reproduces the ups and downs of that period of history with elegant and refined words, and takes the reform as the main line, running through the laws and regulations, customs and sentiments, poems and songs, and military disputes of the Song Dynasty, and then reshapes the image of politicians and literati led by Wang Anshi. It is exciting to read and feels like being there.

This is a three-volume historical novel based on the life of Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang. Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang is an outstanding woman in Chinese history. She assisted and trained the two emperors Shunzhi and Kangxi, and made significant contributions to the establishment and consolidation of the Qing Dynasty. Fulin succeeds to the throne, takes over the Central Plains, marries the Empress Dowager, pacifies the San Francisco Rebellion and other major events. It strives to show Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang's all-powerful, far-sighted, enterprising, joyful and bloody life, and feel the historical enlightenment of the distant era.

Passed away like this, the comfortable luxury and rain have bid farewell to the glory of the Song Dynasty for nearly a hundred years. There is no comfort under the dangerous wall. Some people of insight began to seek ways to revitalize and strengthen the country. The young emperor Zhao Xu was even more ambitious and vowed to reform and make immortal achievements. Therefore, Wang Anshi, with the support of Emperor Zhao Xu, used thunderbolt means and his nine reform measures to start the famous "Xining Reform" in history. This rapid and violent change shocked the court and officials who were addicted to "a hundred years of nothing". It impacted the old ways and regulations that had led to the country's poverty and weakness, and awakened the declining people's hearts. However, during the implementation of the new law, with the emergence of "deficiencies", fierce political disputes began between Wang Anshi, Sima Guang, and Su Shi, three close friends who "were basically the same but had different skills." They even became incompatible. Public and private affairs, mutual love, honor and disgrace, promotions, joys and sorrows, demonstrate the unique personality of a generation of famous ministers and the confusing and complex reasons for the great social changes. The author vividly reproduces the ups and downs of that period of history with elegant and refined words, and takes the reform as the main line, running through the laws and regulations, customs and sentiments, poems and songs, and military disputes of the Song Dynasty, and then reshapes the image of politicians and literati led by Wang Anshi. It is exciting to read and feels like being there.