The Flaming City

In the fourteenth year of the Zhengtong era, the Ming emperor Zhu Qizhen personally leads an expedition against the Oirat.

The 500,000-strong army reaches Tumu Fortress, only to be routed overnight by 30,000 Oirat cavalrymen.

The emperor is captured, corpses cover the land, and the Ming dynasty seems on the verge of collapse.

Jinyiwei officer Zhou Yan wakes amid the heaps of bodies, clutching half of a bloodstained jade pendant.