Wang Changren, a Sichuan brotherhood leader, died in a clash between rival factions, only to transmigrate to the Tumu Fortress battlefield in the Ming dynasty, where he became a Ming soldier saving the emperor. He rescued the nine-year-old emperor Zhu Qizhen, then escorted him back to the capital with his younger brother Wang Changli and several fellow brotherhood members.
But as soon as Zhu Qizhen returned to court, his younger brother Zhu Qiyu confined him in the Southern Palace. Wang Changren refused an official post and formed the Tianji Battalion, standing guard outside the palace for seven years. Every day, he taught the emperor through a crack in the door and slipped him notes, while secretly investigating the mysterious organization Paradise City, which had colluded with the Oirat.
When the Defense of Beijing began, Wang Changren proposed digging trenches and burning enemy provisions, then fought a bloody battle against the Oirat army. Leng Yuehen, Su Zhixue, Bai Feifei, and other brothers in arms joined him one after another, defending the capital with their lives.
After the Incident at the Gate of the Palace, Zhu Qizhen reclaimed the throne, but was forced to execute the loyal minister Yu Qian. Disillusioned, Wang Changren retired to Jiangnan with his beloved Lianxing. Years later, as Zhu Qizhen lay dying, he said, “I changed.” Wang Changren lived out his days in the tea hills, and his brothers went their separate ways. But the brotherhood’s unwavering loyalty, never backing down or letting each other down, remained etched forever in history.
