His name is Chen Yang. Born in a time of chaos and raised in seclusion deep in the mountains, he was meant to spend his life practicing medicine, far from the halls of power. But in the fifteenth year of Hongwu, an imperial edict forced him into the Forbidden City.
Empress Ma passed away, then Zhu Yuanzhang. Later came the Yongle, Hongxi, Xuande, Zhengtong, and Jingtai emperors, one after another. Each reign rose and fell amid shifting fortunes. Everyone grew old, but he did not. Everyone forgot, but he did not.
He witnessed the glory and ruin of the Ming Dynasty across its 276 years, becoming the loneliest witness beyond the pages of history. No one remembers his name, and no one knows how old he is. He is the man time forgot, the one who alone bears the burden of the entire Ming Dynasty’s history.
