A graduate student in history transmigrates to another world, only to discover that it is not a dynasty he recognizes. He bears a Xiangqi martial acupoint, which lets him conjure ice, control water, and summon chess-piece puppets. Trapped in the body of an abandoned son of the Jiang family, he is poisoned by his fiancée, framed by his legitimate elder brother, and confined to a dilapidated courtyard in the wilderness. Northern Hu cavalry ride south to raid and plunder, while the local gentry family, the Luo clan, colludes with officials to oppress refugees. Beneath the surface, forces are stirring in every direction. Drawing on the wisdom of his previous life, Jiang Bi makes briquette stoves and greenhouse shelters, gathering refugees with nowhere else to turn. He befriends Wang Touda, a strong and simple-hearted man; Wang Huan, a strategist afflicted with a strange poison; and Ma Jiang, a low-ranking official secretly working undercover. Using Yunyang Mountain as his base, he builds defenses and foils plots. Outside the city, Hu forces lay siege; inside, the great clans struggle among themselves. Hidden amid it all are a secret manual on trade with the Hu, the lost Netherworld Saber, and the mysteries of the nineteen remarkable warriors. Breaking free of his clan’s constraints, he lifts the siege and opens trade routes, then leads a band of common-born brothers south to Jiangzhou. With his extraordinary chess-and-martial arts powers, he carves out a way to survive amid the refugees and the power struggles of the great clans.
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