Zhu Yuntong: Clever and eager to learn, well-versed in the classics, and a master of etiquette. But! He is arrogant and conceited, behaves recklessly, and lacks self-control.
Yue Buqun: Refined and courteous, modest and benevolent. But! He is sinister and hypocritical, calculating, devious, and consumed by a lust for power.
After Yue Buqun dies a horrible death, his soul travels back a hundred years. He awakens in a mourning hall at the funeral of Zhu Biao, history’s most dependable crown prince. Zhu Yuntong now faces the most important turning point of his life. The hypocrite Yue Buqun has become Zhu Yuntong, and the tragedy of Zhu Yuntong’s life will not be repeated. The Jianwen, Hongxi, Xuande, and Zhengtong eras... one bizarre historical episode after another will be changed.
What changes will Yue Buqun, a man from the past with a hundred years of foresight, bring to the Ming dynasty?
“Grandfather Emperor, I, Yue Buqun, am the most rightful heir to the Ming throne. I am more virtuous than Zhu Yunwen, more upright than the Confucian scholars of the realm, better at using force to win over people than arrogant generals, and more ruthless than you, Grandfather Emperor.
“I walk the righteous path of glorious virtue and possess the mandate of Heaven. Who under the heavens would dare defy me?
“Officials and commoners, scholars and farmers, artisans and merchants: who would not sigh and say, ‘The Sage Emperor has taken the throne, and his righteousness is almost wickedly absolute!’”
That's it? ? ? Nothing new
To be fair, it's pretty good.