He was once the underworld kingpin known as “Ninth Master,” a man who called the shots amid a storm of bullets, only to die betrayed at the height of his power.
When he opened his eyes again, he found himself in the Jiajing era of the Ming Dynasty, a thirteen-year-old eunuch who had just been castrated. Burdened with this appalling humiliation, he lay on cold stone, his former authority and dignity ground to dust, with nothing left but the wretched fate of a “piece of cargo.”
But how could the soul of a kingpin accept this?
In the Forbidden City, where rules are strict and hearts inscrutable, he wields power like a high minister despite his eunuch's body. Starting as a lowly servant, he uses modern cunning and underworld methods to climb the ladder of power, one step at a time.
He schemes within the Grand Secretariat, commands the Eastern Depot, “approves” imperial edicts on the emperor's behalf, and holds the power of the realm in his hands. When he stands atop the Forbidden City in his embroidered robe, the entire Ming Dynasty will bow its head and submit beneath the shadow of this “Nine-Thousand-Year Lord.”
