This book uses the first-person perspective of Liu Xiu, Emperor Guangwu of the Eastern Han Dynasty, and traces his legendary life from a commoner to the king of the world.
At the beginning of the novel, Liu Xiu narrates that although he is the grandson of the ninth emperor of the Han Dynasty, his family fortune has long been in decline. When he was born, he was accompanied by the auspicious red light surrounding the room and the growth of good harvests, which foreshadowed his extraordinary destiny. However, his father's early death and the experience of being dependent on others made him develop a farming-oriented, cautious and tolerant character, which is in sharp contrast to his elder brother Liu Boxheng who despised his farmland and spent his entire family to befriend heroes.
In order to study, Liu Xiu went to Chang'an to study. He witnessed with his own eyes the people's hardship under Wang Mang's new policy and the turbulent undercurrent of the world's nostalgia for Han people. The seeds of helping the country were quietly planted in his heart. When he met the Nanyang hero Li Tong by chance and saw the "Red Fu Fu" that "the Liu family is reviving and the Li family is assisting", the inspiration of destiny and the responsibility of troubled times finally made him make up his mind. This former "farmer" resolutely devoted himself to the torrent of history, joined forces with his elder brother, and raised the banner of righteousness against the recklessness of the Han Dynasty.
