Baring the Root

In the Spring and Autumn State of Song, a young duke ascends with a secret resolve to prune his dangerous kinsmen. But when anonymous bamboo slips begin exposing the darkest secrets of noble households, the capital erupts into a chain of vengeance where every neighbor is both victim and murderer. As the fragile state tilts toward civil war, a disgraced minister, a bronze-smith’s widow, and a mysterious scribe discover that even the most exquisitely woven lie cannot withstand the slow, relentless peeling of time—and that rewriting one’s fate demands tearing the bark from the root.