金天翮創作六回《孽海花》後便轉交曾樸續作，其內容主題則由反映政治情勢轉為描繪當時社會情貌的「歷史小說」。縱然主題方向已有改變，然而曾樸仍依循原創金天翮的創作動機，關注當時與中國交流頻繁的日俄兩國動態。扣合時事俄國虛無黨革命、中日戰爭和簽訂馬關條約等事件，於小說中數回中安插日俄間諜的情節。在曾樸所描繪的數組間諜組合中，投身為諜的原因大約可分為兩種，一為愛國一為復仇，作者有意安排初衷的迥異，也暗示了「為公」和「徇私」將引導間諜走向不同的道路與結果。因著截然不同的背景和性格，間諜各自的風格也反映在行動中。然而曾樸並未提供正確的套路可尋，間諜成功與否似乎與性格能力均無相關。日俄間諜的形象塑造，有賴於作者對敵方國民想像的縮影。然而《孽海花》中對敵方間諜未曾有過抨擊與撻伐，甚至還帶有些許敬意，指責的箭頭則指向當時守舊的士大夫。這樣的寫作觀點表明了曾樸贊成革命且力求政治革新的立場。並且在戰事不斷社會背景下，反映對立國家人民的犧牲貢獻，以小說作為範例的借鏡，無疑也希望藉此喚醒國民的愛國心志。

The topic of “Flower in the sea of evil” which changes from political to
historical describes the social circumstances at the time by passing this novel from Jin Tianhe to Zeng Pu. Although the topic changes, Zeng Pu is still trying to follow the inspiration of Jin Tianhe and concentrates on the interaction between China, Japan and USSR. Linking to the events such as revolution of Nihilism party, the Sino-Japanese War, and the Treaty of Shimonoseki, Japanese and Soviet spies appear in the novel several times. There are two reasons why these people became spies described by Zeng Pu.
First is for patriotism, the other is for revenge. These two kinds of reasons are arranged by the author on purpose to show how these spies come to different ways and results. Although the style shown in their movements of spies differs from each other by their background and character differences, Zeng Pu did not bring up an idea of which way makes success. There is no relation between character, ability and success.The appearances of the Japanese and Soviet spies are shaped by the author’s imagination of the people in these enemy countries. However, there is no criticism and judgment against these enemy spies in “Flower in the sea of evil”; some respect is even shown in it. On the contrary, the author accuses conservative scholar-official instead. This point of view indicates Zeng’s position of approval of revolution and political innovation. In the background of wars happening, showing sacrifice and contribution from the people of the enemy country is undoubted for the hope to wake people’s patriotism in the author’s home country .