Chen Yanzhi, a top history student, stays up late studying the Veritable Records of the Ming Dynasty for his thesis. Moved by the tragedy of Prince Xiang Zhu Bai, who was forced to set himself on fire over a false charge, he unexpectedly transmigrates to the sixth year of Hongwu and becomes Zhu Bai, the fourteenth son of the Hongwu Emperor, at just two years old.
Just then, the Great Ming Sign-In System binds to him. Daily sign-ins grant points, skills, and talented aides. He steadily grows stronger through sign-ins, learning calligraphy, mastering government affairs and medicine, and excelling at horsemanship and archery. Drawing on his knowledge of history, he also befriends Crown Prince Zhu Biao and his son, Zhu Xiongying, well ahead of time, laying the groundwork to save his own life.
From his first sign-in in the Eastern Palace gardens to offering wise counsel on disaster relief and frontier defense at court; from quietly building his strength in the depths of the Nanjing palace to making his mark when he is enfeoffed in Jingzhou at fourteen, Zhu Bai (Chen Yanzhi) faces the purges of Hongwu-era meritorious officials, the tyranny of local gentry, and the future bloodshed of the Jingnan Campaign. Relying on the sign-in System and guided by his historical insight, he proceeds with caution at every step. He means not only to rewrite his fate of dying by fire and receiving a cruel posthumous title, but also to help the Great Ming avoid internal strife and external threats, forging a legendary path of his own as Prince Xiang.
