The fate of the Ming hangs on a knife edge. In the south, defence against relentless pirate raids is escalating into all-out war. The beleaguered Chinese forces must rally for a desperate last stand fought across salt and sand. Nearby, fearless magistrate Hai Rui is tasked with investigating a major corruption scandal.

In Beijing, a chance to trump the embezzling viper Yan Song and his influential clan presents itself. There to snatch it is the Crown Prince, and his coalition of the righteous. At a time when the appearance of a mysterious ‘blood scripture’ could either turn the tide or unleash chaos untold, chief eunuch Lu Fang, a loyal and yet crafty kingmaker, is forced to choose sides.

In war as in the Forbidden City, the game is sudden death. Now, China’s heroes make their move: a perilous gambit to salvage centuries of progress. If they fail… everything burns.

Liu Heping is an acclaimed screenwriter, novelist and historian influential for his realist approach to the historical and contemporary transformation of China. His pioneering historical drama, Da Ming Wang Chao 1566, sold nearly a million copies and was later broadcast as a TV series. In 2014, his TV drama All Quiet in Peking gained a cumulative 400 million online views in one month of release. Wen Huang is a Chicago-based writer and translator. His memoir about growing up in Xian in the 1970s, The Little Red Guard, was a Washington Post Best of 2012 pick. He started translating Chinese non-fiction works in 2005, and since then his translations have been published by Pantheon, Harper Collins and Amazon. In 2007, he was the recipient of a PEN Translation Fund Award. His writings have appeared in The Paris Review, Harper’s Magazine, The Asia Literary Review and Words Without Borders.