A lavish, historical war epic based on the Chinese invasion of Korea in the seventeenth century and its subsequent subjugation of the royal court. In 1636 Korea's Joseon kingdom has been invaded by a Chinese army aligned with the Manchu Qing dynasty. King Injo and his men, who are loyal to China's Ming government, take refuge in a mountain fortress. However, with snow on the ground, supplies running out and the enemy fast approaching, the situation grows increasingly more desperate by the day. The Qing army, led by General Ingguldai, quickly surrounds the fortress, leaving the king and the court stranded in a prolonged standoff. In exchange for truce, the Qing General offers a humiliating proposal of sending the Crown Prince out as a hostage. Between the Minister of the Interior, who emphasises the king's duty to protect the lives of his subjects regardless of humiliation, and the Minister of Rites, who maintains that they must fight to death for the greater cause, the king must make a grave choice to save his people.