In the last years of the Tang Dynasty (late 9th to early 10th century), a military governor and warlord named Zhu Wen is out in the countryside when he happens to come across a boy who has been raised by wolves.

The warlord decides to take the boy in, adopt him, and name him Zhu You Wen. Zhu Wen then proceeds to launch an (ultimately successful) coup, usurping the Tang monarch and installing himself as the first Emperor of the Later Liang Dynasty (907-923). The new Emperor names Zhu You Wen as a royal prince.

At court, Zhu You Wen forms a bond with a woman named Ma Zhai Xing, the daughter of a government official.

Despite his lofty status at court, Zhu You Wen is motivated by a strong sense of justice that was instilled in him during his years of living in the wild. He and Ma Zhai Xing begin to form a romantic bond. And with her support, he plans to temper his adoptive father’s unpopular and overly strict reforms – and battles to foil a series of dastardly plans hatched by his scheming foster brothers.