The Path to the Throne

During the Great Xia era, Xia Xiang, a young man from a mountain village, heads to the capital to take the imperial examinations. There, he inadvertently offends the powerful Third Prince and is deliberately struck from the exam rolls. Though born a commoner, Xia Xiang refuses to bow to the powerful. In a fit of outrage, he exposes the scandal of the blacklisted candidates to the exam takers across the realm. In the end, he passes the palace examination and becomes a jinshi, while the Minister of Rites is dismissed for exam fraud.

But the emperor has been framed by villains and lies gravely ill, unable to govern. The Third Prince and the chancellor join forces to seize control of the court. Countless loyal officials are dismissed or banished, and the people’s grievances fill the land. After passing the examinations, Xia Xiang is appointed magistrate of Zhending, a place as perilous as a dragon’s lair. How can he, alone, maneuver among four princes and four great clans? As the Third Prince and two great clans launch an uprising from the ground up, and the emperor, without a son, can only pass the throne to one of the princes, Xia Xiang forges an unprecedented path to the pinnacle of power.