In the year 1572, seventy-two years remain until the fall of the Ming Dynasty and the loss of the mountains and rivers. At this time, Japanese pirates ravage the southeast, Tartars press at the northwest borders, land consolidation grows heavier daily, military and political exhaustion leaves the people suffering, and Emperor Longqing has just died. Shi Yue transmigrated into the body of Zhu Yijun, the Wanli Emperor who would not attend court for thirty years.

The good news is that at this time Zhu Yijun has not yet ascended the throne. He has not yet corrupted state affairs. The bad news is that at this time Zhu Yijun has not yet ascended the throne.

Director of the Office of Imperial Secretariat Feng Bao wants to be the emperor’s representative. Chief Grand Secretary Gao Gong wants to sideline the emperor and strengthen the Grand Secretariat. Deputy Grand Secretary Zhang Juzheng is solely focused on governing and implementing new laws.

The only hope, his biological mother Li Shi, still frequently orders him to kneel in punishment and forces him to write self-censure edicts. … The collapsing edifice lies before him, with intersecting blades of power in the central court.

The rise and fall of the realm, a wise monarch—how should he act?