The story is about a young emperor who is faced with a difficult decision of whether to trade his father and elder brother, who are in captivity, for a ceasefire with the Tartars. His family had treated him as a pawn and their old ways had resulted in a devastating defeat to the Tartars. The young emperor is different and would rather die than bend his heart and will at the enemy's whim. He is faced with the dilemma of attacking the Tartars and retrieving the lost country or saving his family and risking the end of his rule.