The Imperial Medical Bureau of the Great Jing Dynasty appears to be a sacred place where healers save lives, but in truth it is a battleground of power. The director’s seat is vacant, and three factions scheme and struggle against each other. The Elixir Cauldron faction controls the medicines reserved for the imperial court, winning over officials with its extraordinary tonifying remedies. The Acupuncture and Stone faction excels in the secrets of the meridians, binding the imperial family to its life-saving emergency treatments. The Poison Doctors lurk in the shadows, using secret medicines to control people’s minds while concealing their ambitions.
The newly appointed vice director, Su Jingran, possesses his family’s legacy, the “Nine Needles of the Living Pulse.” He had hoped to establish himself through his medical skills, but is forced into the storm. He must contend with the Elixir Cauldron faction’s blockade of medicinal supplies, unravel the Acupuncture and Stone faction’s acupuncture traps, and guard against the Poison Doctors’ silent assassinations. The bureau’s pharmacy is a repository of secret knowledge, and its operating tables are dueling grounds. A single prescription can decide who lives or dies, while one silver needle can determine victory or defeat.
When Su Jingran discovers that the director’s death conceals a shocking conspiracy, and that the power struggle is entangled with a palace coup, the scalpel and silver needles in his hands are no longer solely for saving lives. Will he uphold the healer’s compassion, or wield power to reshape the world? In this medical institution where white robes shroud corpses and medicinal fragrances conceal blades, a deadly contest with medicine as its sword and power as its target is about to begin.
