Half a Lifetime in Darkness

To sink means, first, to descend beneath the surface; second, to submerge; and third, to fall into ruin. In the tenth year of Chongzhen, Shandong suffered a great drought, bandits rose everywhere, and the Qing army attacked the passes. The Great Ming was like a mansion on the verge of collapse. An ordinary university student named Chen Ming woke up as Zhu Yihai, the sixth prince of Lu. He had none of the original owner's memories. He couldn't read the writing or understand the language. None of that mattered. He thought he could simply enjoy a life of wealth and leisure. But then… He was framed and betrayed, tied up in a bandit stronghold, and forced to survive on scraps for half a month. In the end, an imperial edict stripped him of his title and reduced him to a commoner. Zhu Yihai left Yanzhou for Jinan with two maids and three night scouts. He wanted to survive, but people were dying all over Shandong. He wanted to farm, but the Tartars had already reached the city gates. He wanted to make friends, but everyone around him was hiding secrets. This is a story about “fighting to stay alive,” spanning only seven years, from the tenth to the seventeenth year of Chongzhen. What will happen to him after those seven years? And what will become of the Great Ming?