Emperor Tianwu dies, and a young emperor takes the throne. The powerful Empress Dowager rules from court, letting her relatives dominate the government. To consolidate the Li clan’s power, Li Taiquan begins plotting to frame meritorious officials at the Empress Dowager’s behest and strengthen central authority. The Marquis of Wu’an commands an army of three hundred thousand and is the first to bear the brunt, slandered by the Li faction as harboring ambitions to usurp the throne. Enraged, the marquis knows he cannot simply submit. He leads his troops to punish Li Taiquan in the name of “cleansing the court of evil ministers”… Though his campaign fails before it can succeed and he dies before its end, the war changes the course of the realm.
Afterward, rites collapse and order crumbles. Countless heroes rise across the Tianwu realm, embarking on a path of resistance.
