The Great Ming Dynasty, 1642

I am Tan Zhenguo, captain of the Forbidden City security team, employee ID BJ-09527, and also the Ming emperor Zhu Youjian.

At this moment, I’m wearing a bright yellow night robe, sitting on the dragon bed with Yuan Guifei, the woman Chongzhen cherished most in history, in my arms.

Outside the door is the eunuch Wang Cheng’en, whom I read about in history books, reporting the disastrous defeat at the Battle of Songjin.

Last night, I was drowning my sorrows over failing my 28th blind date. Today, I’ve become the Chongzhen Emperor, with only two years left before the dynasty falls.

“Your Majesty… why are your hands trembling?” Yuan Guifei asked softly.

I took a deep breath and looked at my own hands, so familiar yet so strange.

Yesterday, they were holding a walkie-talkie as I inspected the fire hydrants in the Hall of Supreme Harmony. Today, they held the fate of the last days of the Ming Dynasty.

“Pass down my decree,” I heard my voice echo through the Palace of Heavenly Purity. “Order Cao Bianjiao’s remaining troops to enter the passes. Let them through every checkpoint along the way. Anyone who dares to stop them will be executed without exception!”

Wang Cheng’en looked up in shock, probably wondering why the emperor had suddenly used such a brutal order as “executed without exception.”

There was puzzlement in Yuan Guifei’s eyes too. This ruler, usually so indecisive, now had a sharpness in his gaze she had never seen before.

It was the instinct honed over ten years of guarding a palace day and night, the decisiveness of a security captain spotting a major safety hazard.

The gates were about to fall, and now I was the only gatekeeper left for the Ming Dynasty.

“Li Zicheng, Zhang Xianzhong, Hong Taiji… just you wait.”

“I’ll hold this gate, no matter what.”