In the final years of the Spring and Autumn period, Wu and Yue vie for supremacy as the fires of war sweep across the lands south of the Yangtze. After the Battle of Zuili, Goujian is defeated at Kuaiji, and Yue teeters on the brink of destruction. To preserve his state, he submits to peace on behalf of his entire country, travels to the Wu palace, and becomes a prisoner.
For three years, he serves as a slave, tending horses and holding the reins, bowing his head and enduring in silence, concealing every trace of his ambition. Goujian bears humiliations no ordinary person could endure and fools the arrogant King Fuchai of Wu, finally earning his release and returning home. Outsiders see only a man bowing his head and paying tribute; they do not know that hatred of his country's enemy and revenge for his family have long been buried in his heart.
Once home, he hangs a gall bladder beside his seat and sleeps on firewood, keeping himself vigilant as he pursues his plan to restore the state through ten years of rebuilding and ten years of training. At home, he puts the court in order, eases taxes and labor, and encourages farming and sericulture, relying on Fan Li and Wen Zhong to revive Yue's strength. Abroad, he deliberately feigns weakness, feeding Fuchai's arrogance, sowing discord between the ruler and his ministers, and quietly building his forces, gradually wearing away the foundations of Wu's hegemony.
Fuchai grows arrogant and extravagant on the strength of his power, favors flatterers, and keeps worthy ministers at a distance. Fixated on marching north to compete for supremacy in the Central Plains, he allows his country's defenses to grow weaker by the day. Over decades of confrontation between the strong and the weak, the balance of their fortunes quietly shifts during Yue's long years in hiding.
When the moment arrives, Yue's elite forces march east and launch a surprise attack on Gusu. After ten years of endurance honing a single blade, they finally destroy mighty Wu. Goujian rises to become the hegemon of the Spring and Autumn period, reshaping the balance of power in the southeast.
Yet once his hegemony is secured, he cannot escape the fate of rulers. When the birds are gone, the good bow is put away; when the cunning hare is dead, the hound is cooked. Seeing the coldness in his ruler's heart, Fan Li sails off across the Five Lakes into seclusion. Wen Zhong remains steadfastly loyal and ultimately dies for his country.
This is not only an epic of revenge, but also a tale of steely resolve forged through rising from desperation, an age-old tragedy of ruler and ministers taking different paths, and a Spring and Autumn chronicle that lays bare the warmth and coldness of human nature and the rise and fall of dynasties.
