Wu Yi, a modern history enthusiast, transmigrates to the late Northern Song and becomes a palace servant who escapes after Bianjing falls.
Just after arriving, he runs into Shen Qing, a laundry maid carrying a secret edict out of the city. He unexpectedly receives Huizong’s bloodstained decree of succession and immediately activates the Restoration System.
By completing missions to resist the Jin, gather refugees, develop production, and unite the various powers, he can exchange rewards for modern military technology, agricultural science, and knowledge of institutions.
Wu Yi escapes Bianjing without a penny to his name, with Jin forces hunting him from behind and pro-peace factions in Jiangnan blocking his way ahead.
If the decree is exposed, he will be torn to pieces, and the last spark of hope for restoring the Song will be extinguished for good.
Wu Yi advances cautiously by completing System missions. First, he joins a wealthy maritime merchant to build up his initial capital. Then he secretly contacts northern resistance forces through the trade routes. In Lin’an, he maneuvers among the pro-peace factions, steadily building up the strength needed for a northern campaign.
Han Huai, a powerful pro-peace minister (loosely based on the historical Han Tuozhou; this is a fictional namesake, not the historical figure), opposes Wu Yi at every turn. He cuts off trade routes and bribes resistance commanders in a bid to seize power. The Jin also send assassins after Wu Yi, hoping to reclaim the decree and eliminate any future threat.
Wu Yi must root out internal dangers and develop production while facing the risk of a traitor leaking their secrets, all before the Jin invade south and his preparations for the northern campaign are complete.
He knows that if he fails and dies, the people of Jiangnan will suffer the same fate as the people of Bianjing.
His only choice is to use the advanced knowledge he obtains from the System to slowly pry open the Song Dynasty’s decaying institutions and fight the powerful clans controlling the court, as well as its formidable enemies.
