It tells the story of modern man Lu Chen, who travels through time to the seventeenth year of Jiajing, taking over the body of a nameless youth while possessing telekinetic powers. After escaping from a shady inn, he assumes the identity of Jinyiwei Centurion Lu Chen. Due to his striking resemblance to the young Emperor Jiajing, he is successively recognized by the Lu family, the Eastern Depot, and the Xie family as imperial blood. After saving the sovereign at Weihui, he is enfeoffed as the Prince of Ying, enters the capital to assist the Crown Prince in supervising the state, and gradually gains control of the imperial court. Allied with Lu Bing, he frustrates the assassination and regicide plots hatched by the Maitreya Sect and another time-traveler, and institutes new policies such as the Yufeng Bank and the Shuangyu Port tax system. As Emperor Jiajing falls into a coma, Xia Yan is dismissed from his post, and Altan Khan rises to power, Lu Chen walks towards the position of the regent crown prince amidst court intrigues and the flames of war, unaware that the truth of an even greater plane is coming to the surface.