Those Stories from the Ming Dynasty

The gilded tiles of the Forbidden City glimmered coldly in the dusk. A draft swept through the side hall of the Palace of Heavenly Purity, making the candlelight flicker. Zhu Youjian suddenly sat bolt upright on the imperial bed, cold sweat soaking his bright yellow nightclothes embroidered with the Twelve Symbols. Clutching his forehead, he gasped for breath, the blue glow of a computer screen in a modern apartment still lingering before his eyes. Just three hours earlier, he had been staying up all night writing a paper titled “A Feasibility Analysis of Fiscal Reform in the Late Ming.” Halfway through typing, he had suddenly felt dizzy. When he opened his eyes again, he had become the seventeen-year-old emperor in this body.