Flickers in the Ash

In the aftermath of Zizhi's rebellion, King Zhao of Yan returns to a shattered capital. He appoints the prodigy Gongsun Li, a legalist genius who believes rules are the architecture of power, to purge the traitors. Gongsun Li designs an experimental execution, selecting victims not by guilt but by the perfect logic of deterrence. As the grey city swallows the innocent, he finds his flawless mind ensnared in a lifelong war between sovereign reason and the dying phosphor of conscience.