The Heir's Gambit

Name: The Heir's Gambit
ISBN: 9787550019515

青垚Baihuazhou Literature and Art Publishing House2017

4.0

Chapters: 11
ISBN: 9787550019515

Report an error Find this book

Summary

Originally titled Su's Coffin Shop, The Heir's Gambit is a long ancient-set romance of political intrigue by Qing Yao. First serialized on Jinjiang Literature City, where it drew nearly ten million online reads, it was published in print in 2009 by Northern Women and Children Publishing House and has been reprinted several times, becoming one of the best-regarded works of its kind. The story unfolds in a fictional age of chaos. Su Lili, the young owner of Su's Coffin Shop in the capital, is the daughter of a former grand tutor of the previous dynasty. When her family is massacred over a book they possess, The Emperor's Stratagems, her parents are killed and she survives by disguising herself as a man and hiding her name, scraping a living in the city by running the coffin shop. One early-spring morning she rescues a young man called "Wood" (Jiang Qiudi) who has collapsed at her door in flight—in truth the son of the Prince of Linjiang, whose family was framed and destroyed. With similar pasts, the two grow close in their daily companionship and share a plain but warm stretch of time. Yet Wood slips away without warning, driven by a hidden blood feud and an assassination mission, and Su Lili's identity is discovered by Qi Fengxiang, a deep-scheming strategist bent on seizing the empire. She is drawn into the contest among rival factions for The Emperor's Stratagems: on one side Qi Fengxiang, pressing closer by the day yet unable to master his feelings, on the other Jiang Qiudi, who promises that "if I can fly out, I can fly back." The novel moves between the smoke and bustle of the marketplace and the murderous intrigue of the power struggle, advancing through the coffin shop, martial factions, assassination, and a contest over the succession, writing of schemes, tenderness, and empire, until at last the protagonists renounce power once the realm is settled and return to ordinary life. The title points to this very idea: strategy may win an empire, but it cannot always win back a heart.

Editor's review

古言权谋写得好的人不少，能写得“不戾气、不阴冷”的却不多。《天子谋》最难得之处，是把杀机四伏的夺权局与一炉慢火的家常日子并置：棺材铺的木屑味、市井邻里的一句闲话，与宫廷算计、金戈铁马交错推进，读来既紧张又有余裕。女主角苏离离是本书最大的惊喜。她既不是万能型的“大女主”，也不是清冷高绝的玉女，而是“狡猾又糊涂，小气又洒脱”的市井女子：会算账、会耍赖，也会在关键时刻把底线守得极稳。相比同类作品中动辄翻云覆雨的女主，她更像能在身边遇到的活人，反而格外可信可亲。两个男性角色也各有分量：江秋镝胸怀谋略却甘愿舍天下守一人，是“繁华过后的尘埃落定”；祁凤翔深沉狠绝、几近无弱点，偏偏在情之一字上失了方寸。作者写情克制，写战场利落，结尾不靠强行团圆取胜，而是让选择本身成为答案。本书原名《苏记棺材铺》，豆瓣评分7.9分，被不少老读者视作古言权谋的入门与必读书。2017年百花洲文艺出版社版本为逐字修订的纪念珍藏版，错漏更少，适合作为初读或重读的底本。

Who it's for

A good fit for

喜欢古代言情与权谋斗争交织、又不愿读满纸戾气的读者
偏好市井烟火气、看重人物性格鲜活可爱的读者
从晋江、潇湘等网络平台追文、想收藏纸书的老读者
想找一部节奏舒展、可一读再读的古言长篇的入门读者

Not a good fit for

期待硬核历史考据、严谨架空世界观的读者
排斥“两个男性围绕一位女主”情感结构的读者
只想看高甜爽文、不愿接受缓慢铺陈与离别的读者

Reading tips

全书分十章加一则番外，建议按章推进；前几章市井生活铺垫较多，请耐心读完前半部分再判断。
阅读时可留意“棺材铺—江湖—朝堂”三层空间的切换，这是作者调控节奏、区分人物立场的主要手法。
两位男性角色代表着不同的选择与代价；不妨先不做取舍，读到结尾后再回头重看祁凤翔的段落，会有新体会。
若先看过网络连载版，建议选择2017年百花洲文艺出版社修订版，文字经过逐字校订，作为重读与收藏的底本更好。

About the publisher

Baihuazhou Literature and Art Publishing House China · Founded in 1990

Baihuazhou Literature and Art Publishing House is a professional literature and art publisher. Judging from the books in the database, its publishing focus is on foreign literature, world classics, prose and miscellaneous writings, and classic works, while also covering literary appreciation and cultural reading. Representative titles include The Painter of Modern Life, Jane Eyre, Six Chapters of a Floating Life, The Moon and Sixpence, Selected Prose of Ji Xianlin, A Sportsman's Sketches, and Collected Prose of Famous Masters, involving Chinese and foreign authors such as Charles Baudelaire, Charlotte Brontë, Shen Fu, and W. Somerset Maugham, as well as translators including Guo Hong'an, Chen Jinhui, Jing Xing, and Jiao Haili. Overall, the press emphasizes the introduction of classic texts and the compilation of prose works, presenting a publishing profile centered on literary reading and cultural accumulation. As public information is limited, other aspects are not elaborated here.

Chapter 1: Idle Workshop of Grey Tiles, Moonlit Figure Leaning on the Rail
Chapter 2: Life Is Full of Partings, a Guest Arrives at Peach Leaf Ferry
Chapter 3: Dim Moon and a Lone Lamp, Night Rain Soaks Through the Pass
Chapter 4: A Grief No One Knows, Turning Away Across the Shoals
Chapter 5: As If an Old Friend Came, Green Hills Break Through the Clouds
Chapter 6: Startling News from Qishan, Where the Heart Is at Peace Is Home
Chapter 7: Laughter and Talk All of Arms, the Black-Robed Lane of a Past Life
Chapter 8: Leaves Rustling by the River, All Things Are Straw Dogs
Chapter 9: In the Camp We Speak of Separation, Wanting to Explain, I Forget the Words
Chapter 10: Please Join Me in the Jar, Cool Moonlight Shines a Thousand Miles
Extra: Each at the Ends of the Earth, This Feeling Can Be Recalled

FAQ

《天子谋》和《苏记棺材铺》是同一本书吗？

是。作者青垚的这部长篇最初在晋江文学网连载时名为《苏记棺材铺》，出版时更名为《天子谋》。内容主体一致，但不同版本在文字细节和章节编排上略有差异，2017年百花洲版为逐字修订后的版本。

这本书属于哪类小说，是历史还是架空？

属于古代言情兼权谋题材的架空小说。故事没有具体对应的历史朝代，人物与势力均为虚构，因此不必按史实对照阅读，重点在人物的谋略与情感选择。

没读过权谋类小说，能直接读这本吗？

可以。本书权谋线索清晰但不算繁复，尤其前半部分以市井日常为主，门槛不高，常被读者当作古言权谋的入门读物；想深入时再回头看各方的算计，收获会更多。

有几个中文版本，选哪个好？

较常见的有2009年北方妇女儿童出版社版、2017年百花洲文艺出版社修订版，以及2022年四川文艺出版社版。若只买一本，推荐百花洲2017年的修订纪念版，校订更细、流传也较广。

这本书有影视改编吗？

该书已被改编为影视剧，剧名《苏记》，沿用原著中女主经营棺材铺与秘典争夺的故事背景。剧集情节与原著存在改编差异，建议以原著为准进行阅读。

Comments

Find this book

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

青垚 Author

Qing Yao is a web-novel author whose publicly available information is limited; three of her works are currently included in the library. She is known for writing ancient-setting power-struggle romance, and her works are often categorized as time-travel and alternate-history fiction. Representative titles include the two-volume Qing Yao Classic Power-Struggle Romance Series, Gai Jin Jiang Shan Jiu, and Tian Zi Mou. Tian Zi Mou, also known as Su Ji, was adapted for television, starring Li Landi and Zhu Zhengting. These works show that Qing Yao favors stories of political intrigue and personal destiny set in ancient times, weaving complex relationships and plot twists into alternate historical frameworks. Her fiction typically combines time-travel or alternate-history settings with romance and power struggles, and has attracted a readership among fans of ancient-setting romance.