Half a Son (2 Volumes)
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Summary
Wang Funan, the Wei family's half-son, the seventeenth son riding high on spring breezes, fine clothes and spirited horse the envy of all—yet beneath this splendor what sustains him is a broken promise he has clung to through bitter endurance. On the battlefield, he charges again and again to kill the enemy, unafraid to be wrapped in horsehide for burial, only to guard home and country.
Yet by this time the court is as precarious as stacked eggs, tottering on the verge of collapse. Livelihoods are desolate, eunuchs run rampant; the closer they come to the center of power, the more they are swept up by the storm.
Though times are hard and perilous, Wang Funan often recalls the night in the mountains when the two lay foot to foot in sleep, and the calm light in her eyes, red-rimmed with held-back tears, when he pressed close in the dark alley and saw through her identity. She has her own tenderness, and still more her steadfastness and pride, fearing no cutting of wind and frost. This solitary courage has long become bone and blood. The city may fall, but belief is never extinguished—even should the great edifice topple, one still believes a spark can set the prairie ablaze.
Editor's review
Who it's for
A good fit for
- Readers who enjoy interwoven ancient court intrigue and battlefield narratives
- Readers interested in live-in son-in-law identity, family ethics, and marginal positions
- Readers of historical fiction who prefer dual protagonists, ensemble casts, and institutional detail
- Mature readers who can accept slow-burn development and a two-volume length
Not a good fit for
- Readers expecting fast-paced power fantasy or a single main plotline
- Readers impatient with ancient bureaucracy, account books, and court detail
- Readers who only want light romance and prefer not to grapple with heavy political pressure
Reading tips
- First clarify the origins of Xu Ji's and Wang Funan's respective "half-son" identities; the court and battlefield threads will then read much more smoothly.
- Don't pause over calculating rods, account books, and official titles—grasp the characters' circumstances and stances first; details can be filled in on a second read.
- Note where "the city may fall, but belief is not extinguished" lands concretely in each character's choices; keeping a character-comparison notebook may help.
About the publisher
Jiangsu Kuwei Culture Development Co., Ltd. is a cultural enterprise focused on planning and publishing literature and social science books. Public information is limited, and the available details come mainly from its in-house catalogue. Its publishing areas cover prose and essays, foreign literature, social science classics, mystery and detective fiction, and history books, with attention to reissues and boxed sets of classic works. Representative titles include Wang Zengqi's essay collection Renjian Youwei, Wanwu Youqu, The Little Prince, a boxed set of Western philosophical classics, Mao Dun's classic works, a collection of Yasunari Kawabata's award-winning works, Cai Lan's essays, and the Eddie Flynn courtroom mystery series. Its authors include Chinese and foreign names such as Wang Zengqi, Mao Dun, Yasunari Kawabata, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Plato, and Marcus Aurelius, reflecting a publishing profile that brings together Chinese prose, foreign literature, and philosophical and social science classics.
Contents
- 版权信息
- 第一卷：比部卷
- 第一章：阖家宴1
- 第二章：阖家宴2
- 第三章：阖家宴3
- 第四章：阖家宴4
- 第五章：阖家宴5
- 第六章：阖家宴6
- 第七章：骊山汤1
- 第八章：骊山汤2
- 第九章：骊山汤3
- 第十章：骊山汤4
- 第十一章：骊山汤5
- 第十二章：骊山汤6
- 第十三章：职制律1
- 第十四章：职制律2
- 第十五章：职制律3
- 第十六章：职制律4
- 第十七章：职制律5
- 第十八章：山前路1
- 第十九章：山前路2
- 第二十章：山前路3
- 第二十一章：山前路4
- 第二十二章：山前路5
- 第二十三章：山前路6
- 第二十四章：旧信物1
- 第二十五章：旧信物2
- 第二十六章：旧信物3
- 第二十七章：旧信物4
- 第二十八章：旧信物5
- 第二十九章：君子约1
- 第三十章：君子约2
- 第三十一章：君子约3
- 第三十二章：君子约4
- 第三十三章：君子约5
- 第二卷：淄青卷
- 第三十四章：行路难1
- 第三十五章：行路难2
- 第三十六章：行路难3
- 第三十七章：行路难4
- 第三十八章：行路难5
- 第三十九章：行路难6
- 第四十章：行路难7
- 第四十一章：束刀戈1
- 第四十二章：束刀戈2
- 第四十三章：束刀戈3
- 第四十四章：束刀戈4
- 第四十五章：束刀戈5
- 第四十六章：束刀戈6
- 第四十七章：束刀戈7
- 第四十八章：梦浮桥1
- 第四十九章：梦浮桥2
- 第五十章：梦浮桥3
- 第五十一章：梦浮桥4
- 第五十二章：梦浮桥5
- 第五十三章：心绪颤1
- 第五十四章：心绪颤2
- 第五十五章：心绪颤3
- 第五十六章：心绪颤4
- 第五十七章：心绪颤5
- 第五十八章：秋晨露1
- 第五十九章：秋晨露2
- 第六十章：秋晨露3
- 第六十一章：秋晨露4
- 第六十二章：秋晨露5
- 第六十三章：秋晨露6
- 第六十四章：掌财权1
- 第六十五章：掌财权2
- 第六十六章：掌财权3
- 第六十七章：掌财权4
- 第六十八章：掌财权5
- 第六十九章：计中计1
- 第七十章：计中计2
- 第七十一章：计中计3
- 第七十二章：计中计4
- 第七十三章：计中计5
- 第三卷：度支卷
- 第七十四章：过河卒1
- 第七十五章：过河卒2
- 第七十六章：过河卒3
- 第七十七章：过河卒4
- 第七十八章：过河卒5
- 第七十九章：引内斗1
- 第八十章：引内斗2
- 第八十一章：引内斗3
- 第八十二章：引内斗4
- 第八十三章：引内斗5
- 第八十四章：借刀计1
- 第八十五章：借刀计2
- 第八十六章：借刀计3
- 第八十七章：借刀计4
- 第八十八章：借刀计5
- 第八十九章：借刀计6
- 第九十章：风雪夜1
- 第九十一章：风雪夜2
- 第九十二章：风雪夜3
- 第九十三章：风雪夜4
- 第九十四章：风雪夜5
- 第九十五章：风雪夜6
- 第九十六章：罢进奉1
- 第九十七章：罢进奉2
- 第九十八章：罢进奉3
- 第九十九章：罢进奉4
- 第一百章：罢进奉5
- 第一百零一章：罢进奉6
- 第一百零二章：待天明1
- 第一百零三章：待天明2
- 第一百零四章：待天明3
- 第一百零五章：待天明4
- 第一百零六章：待天明5
- 第一百零七章：待天明6
- 第一百零八章：终难平1
- 第一百零九章：终难平2
- 第一百一十章：终难平3
- 第一百一十一章：终难平4
- 第一百一十二章：终难平5
- 第四卷：转运卷
- 第一百一十三章：七里港1
- 第一百一十四章：七里港2
- 第一百一十五章：七里港3
- 第一百一十六章：七里港4
- 第一百一十七章：七里港5
- 第一百一十八章：七里港6
- 第一百一十九章：祭英魂1
- 第一百二十章：祭英魂2
- 第一百二十一章：祭英魂3
- 第一百二十二章：祭英魂4
- 第一百二十三章：祭英魂5
- 第一百二十四章：供军使1
- 第一百二十五章：供军使2
- 第一百二十六章：供军使3
- 第一百二十七章：供军使4
- 第一百二十八章：供军使5
- 第一百二十九章：偿血债1
- 第一百三十章：偿血债2
- 第一百三十一章：偿血债3
- 第一百三十二章：偿血债4
- 第一百三十三章：偿血债5
- 第一百三十四章：风欲止1
- 第一百三十五章：风欲止2
- 第一百三十六章：风欲止3
- 第一百三十七章：风欲止4
- 第一百三十八章：塞上曲1
- 第一百三十九章：塞上曲2
- 第一百四十章：塞上曲3
- 第一百四十一章：塞上曲4
- 第一百四十二章：塞上曲5
- 第一百四十三章：塞上曲6
- 第一百四十四章：塞上曲7
- 第一百四十五章：塞上曲8
- 第一百四十六章：塞上曲9
- 尾声
- 后记
FAQ
What does "half-son" mean in the book?
What is the relationship between Xu Ji and Wang Funan?
Do I need to read Volume One before Volume Two?
Comments
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About the author
Zhao Xizhi is a Chinese author about whom limited public information is available; two works are currently attributed to her name. Her representative works include Banzi (2 volumes) and The Town Test-Taker. Banzi (2 volumes) is categorized as time-travel alternate history, suggesting that she has explored a narrative approach combining historical settings with fictional worldbuilding. The Town Test-Taker is classified as youth literature and stays closer to the growth experiences and real circumstances of contemporary young people. Taken together, these two works show her writing spanning both ancient alternate-history settings and contemporary youth themes, demonstrating an ability to construct imaginative story frameworks while also attending to individual lives and emotions in reality. Because her dates of birth and death, nationality, education, and awards are not clearly recorded, this introduction makes no inferences and outlines her creative profile only on the basis of the works in the database.
