Purple Star Imprisons the Dragon: The Young Emperor Breaks the Formation

In the winter of the Great Yin dynasty’s seventeenth year under the Yuanqi reign, twelve-year-old Seventh Prince Zhao Chen is enthroned in Zichen Hall after the late emperor’s death. Wang Cheng’en, the chief eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial, proclaims him emperor in accordance with the imperial edict. Zhao Chen faces a struggle for power and challenges to his legitimacy from powerful imperial relatives and ministers, including Prince Yan Zhao Jin, Prince Ning Zhao Yu, and Chancellor Liu Chengfeng. He even survives an attempt by Empress Dowager Liu to poison him with tea, thanks to the protection of his shadow guard, Mo Ying. After ascending the throne, he quickly responds to an invasion by 100,000 Northern Di troops, forcing Liu Chengfeng to donate his family fortune to fund the army. Amid a series of conspiracies involving a fire at the imperial estate, a secret visit to the chancellor’s residence, and a coup in Fengyi Palace, he engages in a deadly struggle with Liu Chengfeng and his faction. He ultimately kills Liu Chengfeng in Qingya Valley in the southwest, but the lingering poison of the Heart-Eater Powder leaves him physically weakened. He must still face the threat of the new Northern Di ruler Aguda and conspiracies from the Western Regions as he fights to protect the vast realm.