The Sky Screen Says I Am Both Emperors of Ages Past

Xiao Jingchuan, the founding emperor of the Da Qian Dynasty, dies at the Hanhai peace negotiations after being betrayed by anti-war factions and suffering from wounds sustained during his military campaigns. His soul arrives at the banks of the River of Forgetfulness in the Yellow Springs, where he encounters Bei Mang, a mysterious vendor selling Meng Po's Soup. Before drinking the soup to erase his memories, Xiao Jingchuan witnesses the annals of history, learning that his three closest ministers—General Gu Yue, Chancellor Jun Youcheng, and State Preceptor Dian Cui—had all died shortly before him, leaving him alone to rule for four years. Overcome with grief and a sense of unfinished duty, he plunges into the river, only to find himself reborn as Xiao Chuan, the sixth prince of the Nan Qian Dynasty, one hundred and one years later. This new body is that of an unpopular, intellectually disabled prince who died in the Imperial Prison after offending the powerful Consort Gan.

Upon waking in the prison, Xiao Jingchuan discovers that the Qin Emperor's Bone-Reflecting Mirror, a divine artifact that assisted him in founding his dynasty, has reappeared and bound itself to him again. Using the mirror, he learns the grim state of the world: the once-unified Da Qian has split into the southern Nan Qian and the northern Bei Qian. The southern emperor, Yunqi, is a madman obsessed with alchemy and immortality, while the northern ruler is a drunken monarch who lost the Sixteen Prefectures to nomadic tribes. Distraught by the collapse of his legacy, Xiao Jingchuan resolves to restore the dynasty, but he knows he cannot succeed alone. He must reunite with his old comrades, who he believes have also been reincarnated into this era.

His hopes are realized when Jun Youcheng, the future founding chancellor, is thrown into the same prison. Jun Youcheng is revealed to be a transmigrator from the twenty-first century, a history major who had previously died and been reborn into the body of the young Jun family heir. The two former ruler and minister reconnect, with Xiao Jingchuan relying on Jun Youcheng's administrative expertise to navigate their dire circumstances. Their reunion is interrupted by the appearance of a Celestial Screen in the sky, a phenomenon that shocks both the prison and the imperial court. The screen broadcasts a live stream by a bard named Fusang, who begins discussing the history of the Qian Dynasty, revealing to the people of the present that their era will produce a legendary revitalizing emperor known as the Qianwu Emperor.

In the Nan Qian capital, Emperor Yunqi reacts violently to the Celestial Screen's revelations. After publicly executing the corrupt Minister of Personnel, Jun He, for embezzling military funds, Yunqi learns from the screen that his own reign will be associated with the rise of this great ancestor. Paranoia and madness grip him, leading him to imprison Gu Yue, a military officer who has also been reincarnated from the founding general. Gu Yue, now inhabiting the body of a notorious wastrel, finds himself targeted by the emperor's erratic wrath. Meanwhile, the Celestial Screen continues to broadcast, exposing the secrets of the past and setting the stage for a chaotic convergence of fates. Xiao Jingchuan and Jun Youcheng remain imprisoned, waiting for the third member of their original trio, Dian Cui, to arrive, while the political landscape of Nan Qian begins to fracture under the weight of the emperor's insanity and the revelations from the sky.

The story establishes a dual narrative structure, alternating between the imprisoned founders and the chaotic court of Emperor Yunqi. The core conflict revolves around the mission to rebuild the Da Qian Dynasty from its ruins, a task complicated by the fact that the current rulers are descendants of the very people who betrayed and destroyed the original empire. Xiao Jingchuan must use his historical knowledge and the Bone-Reflecting Mirror's capabilities to outmaneuver the paranoid emperor and the entrenched aristocratic factions. Jun Youcheng struggles with the burden of rewriting history, knowing the future but fearing he will forget his past lives. The appearance of the Celestial Screen introduces an element of public scrutiny, as the people and officials of Nan Qian begin to question their current leadership in light of the glorious history being displayed. As Gu Yue joins the prison group, the three founding figures are reunited, setting the stage for their eventual escape and their campaign to reclaim the throne and restore the unity of the realm.