Sword Stained with Royal Blood

The novel is set in 17th-century China when the Ming dynasty is collapsing due to political corruption and a rebellion led by Li Zicheng, while at the same time facing the threat posed by the Manchus in the northeast.

The Ming general Yuan Chonghuan is wrongly accused of treason and executed by the Chongzhen Emperor. His son, Yuan Chengzhi, is saved by his loyal followers and sent to the Mount Hua, where the boy is trained in swordsmanship by Mu Renqing, the legendary leader of the Mount Hua Sect. Years later, a grown-up Yuan ventures into the jianghu and serendipitously discovers the Golden Serpent Sword and a martial arts manual which once belonged to Xia Xueyi, a long-dead enigmatic swordsman. Yuan inherits the sword and masters the skills in the manual, becoming a more powerful swordsman.

By chance, Yuan meets Wen Qingqing, Xia Xueyi's daughter, who accompanies him on his adventures after being expelled by her maternal family. Although Yuan initially seeks redress for his father, he ultimately joins Li Zicheng's rebels to overthrow the corrupt Ming government. He helps the rebels retrieve the gold stolen by the Wen family, sabotages a battery of cannons supplied to Ming forces by foreigners, and finances the rebellion with the treasure he found in Nanjing. During this time, he reconnects with his father's followers and befriends several prominent jianghu figures, eventually organising them into a militia to serve and protect the Han Chinese nation.

Although Yuan's initial focus was on the rebellion, he realises that the Later Jin dynasty poses an even greater threat to the Han Chinese nation. He infiltrates Mukden and attempts to assassinate the Manchu ruler Huangtaiji but fails and narrowly escapes. Later, despite holding a grudge against the Chongzhen Emperor for his father's death, he saves the emperor from a palace coup staged by a treacherous prince. At the same time, he meets He Tieshou, the leader of the evil Five Poisons Cult, and manages to reform her and take her as his apprentice. He also gets entangled in a love triangle with Wen Qingqing and Ajiu, who is actually the Chongzhen Emperor's daughter.

Yuan ultimately regrets his decision to support the rebels because the interim government they set up to replace the Ming government turns out to be as corrupt as its predecessor. Meanwhile, Wu Sangui, the Ming general guarding Shanhai Pass, defects to the Manchus, allowing the Manchus to eventually conquer the rest of China and establish the Qing dynasty. Yuan realises that he cannot do anything to reverse the situation, so he decides to leave China with his companions and settle down in a distant land.