Tang Congxin, a young man from the modern era, transmigrates into the body of Tang Ye, a false prince who was switched at birth by the Prince of Ji and his wife and imprisoned in a remote border temple. He spends ten years lying low, honing his martial arts and devouring books, all in the hope of changing his fate. On the journey back at the Empress's summons, he is captured by rebels from Shuobei and forced into becoming their puppet khan. Faced with utter desperation, Tang Congxin uses his superior knowledge and wisdom to pull off a stunning move: he appears to submit to the rebels, while secretly making contact with a court envoy and Helan Raorao, leader of the Blackbird Guards, becoming the court's “hidden blade” in Shuobei. With a series of ingenious schemes, he helps the court pacify the border and returns to the capital with honors. Yet the capital is the true den of danger. His biological parents want him dead, powerful court officials regard him as an outsider, and his rivals for the throne watch him like hawks. Armed with modern management principles and game theory, Tang Congxin repeatedly breaks through political deadlocks with open strategies, advancing cautiously step by step. He not only wins the Empress's favor and is named Crown Prince's Heir, but also personally drives his cold and heartless biological parents to ruin. In the end, he ascends the throne, vowing to build an unprecedented golden age with ambitions surpassing those of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang.
