Lu Mingyuan, a graduate student of history, unexpectedly transmigrates to Xianyang on the eve of Qin's unification. His modern knowledge earns Ying Zheng's favor. He tries to prevent Qin's tyranny through gradual reform, but becomes caught in a whirlpool of power. As he promotes papermaking and improves farming tools, he must contend with obstruction from conservative nobles and wrestle with the moral dilemma of whether to change history. His romance with Mi Yue, a descendant of the people of Chu, falls apart over their political differences, while the sacrifice of his close friend Meng Yi makes him realize the force of historical inevitability. In the end, he chooses to record history rather than alter it, carving his observations onto secret bamboo slips and burying them in the imperial mausoleum. They become the “transmigrator's bamboo slips,” stunning archaeologists in later generations.
