In his previous life, Jiang Jiuyan, Prince of Yan, knelt to death outside the palace gates, his soul forced to witness the collapse of the empire. Reborn, he no longer bothers distinguishing loyalty from treachery. Instead, he defies the Mandate of Heaven, seizes military provisions, and fakes his death by setting his residence ablaze, drawing the Empress, powerful ministers, feudal princes, and the Northern Di into a deadly game where they wear one another down. By the time the desperate Emperor in the capital weeps and cries, "Where is Imperial Uncle?", he has already burned five thousand Black Banner troops to ashes at Heifeng Pass, seized control of the grain supply and the capital's nine gates, and brought the entire realm to its knees, begging him to open the granaries. In his former life, a loyal minister froze to death on the palace steps. In this life, he turns the tables and takes control. His enemies destroy their own Great Wall, while he returns with a cold gaze to determine the fate of the realm.