Li Yan wakes up to find that he has become the most down-and-out of the seven princes of the Tianqi dynasty. His birth parents died early, and he is constantly bullied. In the capital, brothers fight among themselves, powerful ministers vie for influence, and murderous plots lurk everywhere! Every step is like walking on thin ice; one careless move could doom him forever. The borderlands are his only way out! Knowing that he is doomed if he remains caught in the maelstrom of power, Li Yan resolutely asks to be sent to guard the bitterly cold and dangerous northern frontier. In everyone’s eyes, this is no different from courting death. Yet, with modern knowledge and an unyielding will, he rises from the bottom, reforms the military, fights in bloody battles, and repels the savage foreign tribes time and again. With an iron fist, he not only wins the loyalty of the troops but also takes firm control of the northern frontier army, becoming the blade that guards the north and inspires awe across the region!
A coup rocks the capital, and the whole world becomes his enemy! Just as Li Yan is building up his strength, the capital is suddenly swept by bloodshed! The ambitious Second Prince, Li Fan, colludes with powerful ministers, stages a coup, imprisons the old emperor, and uses the emperor’s authority to command the lords! A decree of slander brands Li Yan a “traitor to the state” and calls on the whole realm to unite against him! In an instant, Li Yan, who commands a powerful army, goes from pillar of the nation to enemy of the realm, besieged on all sides!
Fighting back from the brink, beneath the royal banner! Faced with monstrous slander and attacks from every direction, Li Yan burns with fury! He exposes the truth about Li Fan’s patricide and imprisonment of the emperor, while forging alliances and reaching out to local garrisons dissatisfied with Li Fan, loyal civil officials, and heroes of the martial world, all rallying under the banner of “Purge the emperor’s court and rescue the sovereign!” After one bloody battle after another, he breaks through the encirclement and repels foreign invaders, then leads the northern frontier cavalry and the forces coming to the emperor’s aid to the gates of the capital!
Blood washes through the capital, and power over the realm is seized!
