Shao Shan, an archaeology research trainee, touches a strange stone at an excavation site. The world spins, and when he opens his eyes again, he is at Ningguta, a place of exile buried under heavy snow. There are no archaeological teams here, only exiled criminals, starving refugees, and bitter cold that can swallow a person at any moment.
On the snowy plain, he meets a girl so thin that only her bright eyes remain: Tang Yining. She is the daughter of Huo Chongshan, the great general who guards the north. Her father has been framed by treacherous officials for "colluding with the enemy" after his achievements threatened the throne, and the entire family was exiled overnight. On the way to the capital under guard, her father was caught up in an ambush at Shanhai Pass, where former subordinates attempted to rescue him from captivity. His fate is unknown. Her mother and younger brother are locked in Ningguta's eastern prison, and the censors have set a date to take them to the capital in a few days. Once they reach the capital, they will be as good as dead.
All Shao Shan has are a magnifying glass, a notebook, and a few packets of compressed biscuits. The only person at his side is an old man named Liu, whose origins are unknown. But once he sets foot in this city of exile, he can no longer pretend he is just passing through. He will use an archaeologist's eye to uncover the truth behind the frame-up, and take Tang Yining, Old Liu, and the entire Huo family from Ningguta all the way back to the capital to overturn this monstrous injustice.
A thousand miles of snowy plains, ten thousand miles to the capital. Why did the strange stone send him here of all places? Did Yan Baihu abduct Huo Chongshan to save him or harm him? And what secret is hidden in the white jade deer tucked into the lining of Old Liu's coat? Within seven days, the fires of Ningguta will blaze.
When it got dark, the three of them put on the old clothes that Zhao Laogao had found. Yining wrapped the copper coin in oil paper and stuffed it into the lapel of his clothes. He also pinned his mother's silver hairpin in his hair, with the hairpin facing back, as if to avoid being seen. Shaoshan left the magnifying glass and record book at Zhao Laogao's house, and only carried half a piece of cake broken off from dry food and a boning knife that Zhao Laogao stuffed into his arms. Lao Liu didn't bring anything, he only tightened the short knife at his waist.
Love remains the same across thousands of rivers and mountains. Can you vote for me? Give me some motivation to renew.
It's coming, it's coming, the new book is coming