In the waning years of the Great Chu Dynasty, the Northern Di press against the border, and the entire household of the General Who Guards the North is framed and imprisoned. Shen Jinghong, the legitimate daughter of the family, disguises herself as a man and escapes with her life. In the black market, she crosses paths with the mysterious apothecary Rong Zhi. He appears to be a physician who heals the world, but is in truth the long-hidden sole survivor of the previous dynasty, secretly controlling the intelligence network known as the Tianji Pavilion. The two join forces to forge new identities. Shen Jinghong, under the alias “Young Master Jinghong,” becomes the new Vice Minister of Revenue, while Rong Zhi enters and leaves the Imperial Medical Bureau as the “heir to the Medicine Sage.” Each lays out a game of strategy in the imperial court and the martial world.
