The Dynasty of Culinary Delights

In the final years of the Tianqi era of the Ming dynasty, a strange and unfathomable explosion at the Wang Gong Factory changed the life of Gu Yunshen, a boy who worked at a small noodle stall in the capital. A mysterious metal box called the Heavenly Artisan Stove, containing culinary knowledge from the future, fell from the sky. It drew him into the court-ordered case of the "demonic device," and he and his father were thrown into the imperial prison.

At death's door, Gu Yunshen unexpectedly discovered that he could read the otherworldly script inside the Heavenly Artisan Stove and master its astonishing culinary arts. With a flawlessly prepared tofu dish called Wensi Tofu, he stunned Xiao Yan, the Jinyiwei commander who hoped to profit from the case. Xiao Yan was originally known as Zhao Jingzhong.

To save himself and his father, Gu Yunshen was sent by Xiao Yan into the treacherous imperial kitchen of the Forbidden City as a hidden piece in his game. His mission: use the era-defying culinary skills from the Heavenly Artisan Stove to heal the Tianqi Emperor, whose nerves and appetite had been shattered by the explosion, and stir the undercurrents of the imperial palace.

From then on, a single pot stirred the fate of the realm, and a single dish decided the rise and fall of a dynasty.