Yongjing Dyed in Ink

When Shen Yan woke, he was the youngest son of Shen Jingzhi, former Grand Secretary of the Great Yong. The Shen family had been wiped out and their home confiscated for “colluding with the Northern Di,” leaving him registered as a convict in the palace, his life at the mercy of others. In his previous life, he was a PhD in philology who restored ancient texts, well versed in poetry, chess, music, mechanisms, institutions, and military strategy. In this life, he had no golden finger or System, only a cool eye that could see the whole game, and hands capable of making a move even in the direst straits. The succession struggle remained unresolved, aristocratic clans jockeyed for power, the empress's relatives ruled from behind the curtain, and border generals grew ever more powerful. Everyone thought this convict orphan was a discarded pawn, unaware that on the chessboard, the player who moves slowest is often the one who has the last laugh. In a game of chess that stained Yongjing with ink, he made no sound as he played, yet every move was fraught with danger.