A story of power, loyalty, and the secrets that shape empires. Ku Wen-hsing was nine years old when his father sent him to the Imperial Palace. In the agonizing days after the surgery that made him a eunuch, he learned his first lesson: every door that opens demands a price. Assigned to serve Prince Xuanye, a quiet, thoughtful boy never meant to rule, Ku Wen-hsing watches as fate intervenes. When the deadly Tianhua curse sweeps through the palace, Xuanye alone survives, and his dying father names him heir over his older brother. That single decision ignites a hatred that will smolder for decades. As Emperor Kangxi, Xuanye inherits a puppet throne controlled by ruthless regents. He builds his weapons in plain sight: wrestling matches that train loyal soldiers, marriages that secure powerful allies. But his greatest battles are fought within the palace walls, against a brother who never forgave him, the crushing loneliness of absolute power, and a beloved son whose betrayal cuts deeper than any conspiracy. Through it all, Ku Wen-hsing remains at his master's side: witness to treachery and triumph, keeper of dangerous secrets, and the one voice that speaks truth when it matters most. Spanning fifty years of China's most celebrated reign, Vermilion Shadows is an epic tale of friendship forged in the shadows of the Dragon Throne, where loyalty is tested, love is sacrificed, and the fate of millions rests in the hands of those history has forgotten. "Water remembers everything. I have given it one more story to keep."