The Embroidered Guard: From Prison Warden to Power Behind the Throne

“Kill corrupt officials, and you’ll grow stronger!” Shen Yu is a low-ranking banner officer in the Embroidered Uniform Guard, powerless and helpless, an ant anyone can crush. When he’s framed by his superior in a major salt and iron case, he’s thrown into the imperial prison and subjected to every kind of torture. They’ll keep beating him until he confesses, then execute his entire family. On the brink of death, he awakens the power of Official Calamity: whenever a court official dies, their life force becomes nourishment that makes Shen Yu stronger!

From then on, he becomes a shadow over the imperial court, climbing step by step through a whirlpool of political intrigue. The Two Huai salt-trade case leaves bodies piled high! The campaign to replace rice with mulberry trees shakes the court to its core! The struggle between political factions and imperial heirs throws the realm into turmoil!

But Official Calamity’s backlash grows ever more severe…

“Either I kill every high-ranking courtier, or I become a puppet to the inner demon!”

In this dog-eat-dog world, all he wants is to keep his own life in his hands!