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Zhen Guo Zhu Zai (镇国主宰)

Zhen Guo Zhu Zai (镇国主宰) is a 2024 Chinese live-action vertical-screen micro-drama (short drama) produced by the Hangzhou-based studio Judian Duanju (剧点短剧). It runs 90 episodes with a combined runtime of 2 hours 4 minutes and was released on April 28, 2024.1 The series belongs to the male-audience "war god returns" genre, tagged by the Duanju Baike database as urban fantasy (都市玄幻), hidden identity (马甲), face-slapping revenge (打脸虐渣), and big male lead (大男主).1

Key factDetail
FormatLive-action vertical micro-drama, 90 episodes, 2 hours 4 minutes total1
ProducerJudian Duanju (剧点短剧), a Hangzhou vertical-drama platform founded in 20221 • 2
ReleaseApril 28, 2024; the official Judian account on Bilibili began posting episodes on April 19, 20241 • 3
Lead castWang Ziming (王子铭) as Zhan Tiandi; Pan Yanfei (潘彦妃) as Shangguan Nalan; En Jing (恩璟) as Wen Xueting; Yang Chen (杨晨) as Zhan Wushuang1
Commercial resultCumulative in-app recharge exceeded 10 million RMB by April 21, 2024, per the platform's own poster4
Streaming performance4th in Douyin end-native play-increment for H1 2025 (9.42亿); 12th for full-year 2025 (11.9亿)5 • 6
Related versionAn animated adaptation with the same title and plot is listed on iQIYI as a 2022 original with 31 episodes7

Spoilers

Plot

The story follows Zhan Tiandi (战天帝). Abandoned by his father as a child, he left with his mother and younger sister to make a living in Donghai (东海). His mother was framed by enemies and driven to jump to her death, and as the perpetrators moved to silence the boy, a mysterious figure appeared, saved him, and sent him into the army.1

Over ten years of bloody battlefield service he rose from a low-ranking border soldier to the Zhan Yi Divine King (战翼神王), commanding power over half the realm. Leading his iron cavalry he swept the frontier, defended the territory, and drove out barbarian tribes, earning towering military merit.1

Ten years later he receives a court summons to return to the capital and report on his stewardship. This return sets up the revenge arc: the families responsible for his mother's death, the Chen family led by Shangguan Nalan (上官纳兰) along with the Sun family and others, tremble as he arrives.1 A plot summary of the finale describes a life-and-death showdown with the Nalan family in which the protagonist kills Nalan, clears his path, and consolidates his position as the nation's guardian sovereign.8

Cast

The Duanju Baike cast list pairs the principal actors with their roles:1

The iQIYI listing for the live-action series credits Wang Ziming and En Jing as the main leads.9

Production and distribution

Studio. Judian Duanju was founded in 2022 as a comprehensive vertical-screen short-drama platform covering copyright development, production, and distribution. The Paper's industry ranking of short-drama platforms lists Zhen Guo Zhu Zai among the company's representative works, alongside titles such as Long Wang Ling and Jiu You Sheng Zhu.2 The official Judian account on Bilibili, which describes itself as posting first-release licensed episodes weekly, uploaded the first episode on April 19, 2024; the episode compilation there had reached 222,000 plays.3

Commercial performance. On April 21, 2024, the trade outlet Bianews reported, citing a poster published by the Judian platform, that the drama's cumulative recharge (viewer payments to unlock episodes) had exceeded 10 million RMB; the same report placed Judian 13th among China's top 50 vertical short-drama companies. The outlet noted that recharge figures are published by the companies themselves and are not independently audited.4

Long-tail performance. The drama continued to draw traffic well after release. In DataEye's H1 2025 industry report it ranked 4th among Douyin end-native micro-dramas by play increment, with 9.42亿 (942 million) incremental views, one of ten 2024 releases in that top 20.5 In the full-year 2025 report it ranked 12th with 11.9亿 incremental views, again cited as an example of the long-tail effect of older dramas.6 Duanju Baike records a rating of 8.1, 310,000 plays, and 29.86 million heat on its page.1

Related versions and similar titles

An animated version carrying the same title and the same Zhan Tiandi synopsis is listed on iQIYI as a 2022 original animation, updated to 31 episodes.7 The title's "zhen guo" (镇国, guarding the nation) prefix is shared by many micro-dramas in the war-god genre, such as Zhen Guo Shen Xu (镇国神婿), a 94-episode 2024 short drama, and Zhen Guo Kuang Zun (镇国狂尊), a 100-episode drama released in December 2024; these are separate works.10 • 11 A Japanese-subtitled release circulates on iQIYI's international service under the title 鎮国の主宰.12

References

  1. 鎮國主宰 - 短劇百科 (Duanju Baike)
  2. 新锐势力榜之短剧平台TOP10, The Paper (澎湃新闻)
  3. 镇国主宰-第1集超清, Bilibili (剧点剧场 official account)
  4. 剧点短剧：《镇国主宰》累计充值超1000万, Bianews (2024-04-21)
  5. DataEye 2025年H1微短剧行业数据报告
  6. DataEye 2025年微短剧行业数据报告
  7. 镇国主宰 (动画版), iQIYI
  8. 《镇国主宰》免费观看高清在线, 朵朵影院
  9. 镇国主宰 (短剧), iQIYI
  10. 镇国神婿（短剧）, Baidu Baike
  11. 镇国狂尊, 海星短剧
  12. 鎮国の主宰 第8回 日本語字幕, iQIYI International

Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026

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