Jiang Lian was born into a distinguished clan. He was bright and noble, gifted and widely admired as a gentleman of rare grace, with the bearing of an immortal and the reputation of a jade mountain rising above a terrace.
He was most renowned for his piercing gaze and keen judgment. He was gifted at recognizing talent, and many gifted people who had been unknown rose to prominence after he gave them his support.
Shen Wenchen was a poor scholar of humble birth. Orphaned young, with a blind mother, he had also been cheated out of his inheritance by his paternal uncle. He'd studied hard since childhood, hoping to make something of himself and return home in glory.
He had once traveled over mountains and ridges to the royal capital, weather-beaten and dusty, carrying poems to seek an audience with the renowned Jiang Lian and ask him to open the way to success.
But at the Lingtai Banquet, Jiang Lian casually tossed his poems down from the high platform in front of everyone.
Jiang Lian stood on the tiered platform with his hands behind his back, aloof and noble. He glanced at Shen Wenchen and said coolly, "A monkey dressed in a man's clothes, shameless and beneath contempt."
Shen Wenchen felt as though he had fallen into the deepest pit of hell. His face turned pale, and he swayed on his feet. He was still wearing fine clothes he'd rented after spending his last coin, all for this day.
With a single judgment, Jiang Lian had made it impossible for him to find any foothold in the capital's schools or government for the rest of his life.
After Shen Wenchen was thrown out of the Lingtai Banquet, people stripped off his finery and left him kneeling helplessly in the rain and mud, tears streaming down his face. Then he heard that his mother had died suddenly, and his grief was unbearable.
He bit his lips until they were mottled with blood, hatred sinking deep into his bones.
He hated the aristocrats, the powerful and privileged. They had everything from the moment they were born, yet still cruelly trampled on people like him, treating their flesh and blood as stepping stones while congratulating themselves.
Shedding the self-respect that meant nothing to him, Shen Wenchen found a way into the palace, concealed his name, and lay low for years. From humble beginnings, he climbed step by step to the heights of power, becoming a treacherous, sycophantic minister at the emperor's side.
Years later, near the end of the dynasty, warlords vied for power and the realm fell into chaos.
Shen Wenchen, powerful and influential, installed a new emperor and gathered valiant generals and heroes around him. In Guanzhong, he raised the banner of the imperial army's legitimacy, watched the rival warlords contend, and issued orders to the lords in the emperor's name.
At that time, Jiang Lian raised an army in the name of righteousness to put down the treacherous minister. He campaigned far and wide, battling through mountains and passes, fighting his way through rivers of blood and competing with the warlords for dominion over the Central Plains.
Times and fortunes had changed. Now, Shen Wenchen stood on a high platform in a robe of fine cloth, living without restraint, looking down at Jiang Lian below, armed and ready for battle.
He sneered, "Look at the rich man's life. Who would have cared for him back when he was poor?"
Their eyes met, each gaze sharp as a blade.
From then on, Jiang Lian's territory grew ever wider, and his fame as a warlord spread across the realm. Shen Wenchen rose to ever higher office, and all the world knew his reputation as a treacherous minister.
Everyone said that these two men were at odds, and no one knew which would prevail.
In the histories of later generations, Shen Wenchen's legacy was mixed. In an age of chaos, he preserved the imperial line, led a righteous army, cared for the common people displaced by war, and developed irrigation and farming to restore their livelihoods.
And yet he was also the one who forced the emperor of Great Wei to abdicate, personally handing the realm to the warlord Jiang Lian.
[A wild and infamous schemer × a generation's great warlord who conquers new territory]
The bottom is an ambitious climber, while the top goes from looking down on him to falling hard.
One-line summary: The realm is in chaos. Hold the emperor and command the lords.
Theme: Ride into battle and pacify the realm
