In the twenty-eighth year of Chengqian’s reign, during winter, Emperor Ping, who had ascended the throne at a young age and ruled for nearly twenty-nine years, passed away. Crown Prince Li Mao, born to Emperor Ping’s empress, succeeded to the throne, changing the era name to Tai’an the following year.

At this time, the Great Zhou Dynasty’s court had already fallen under the control of Prime Minister Yan Ding. All the civil and military officials only recognized the Yan family’s authority, not the Li family’s. The Yan clan wielded overwhelming power and influence.

In the third year of Emperor Tai’an’s reign, with the support of Grand Empress Dowager Yan, Emperor Tai’an allied with his empress’s maternal family, the Shen clan, to launch a coup aimed at striking down the Yan faction. However, their plan was discovered by Yan Ding due to betrayal by a trusted eunuch. In the end, Emperor Tai’an died an unnatural death, the Grand Empress Dowager and Empress Shen were poisoned, and the entire Shen clan was massacred.

After Emperor Tai’an’s death, Yan Ding installed Emperor Tai’an’s eight-month-old infant son Li Huan on the throne, changing the era name to Changshun.

In the first year of Changshun, Empress Dowager Zhou, Emperor Tai’an’s consort, was strangled to death by Yan Ding after he learned she had cursed him as an “old dog” in the imperial harem. In the same year, Prince Heir Xiao Weiyong of the Yanbei Princedom died suddenly in the imperial palace. Rumors circulated that Xiao Weiyong had been dissatisfied with Yan Ding’s restrictions on his freedom of movement and had spoken offensively to Yan Ding, leading to his murder.

After Xiao Weiyong’s death, the people of Yanbei were enraged. Officials large and small throughout Yanbei jointly petitioned the Yanbei Prince’s mansion, demanding justice for the Prince’s Heir.

The Yanbei Prince was devastated by his eldest grandson’s death and fell gravely ill. After recovering, he appointed his second son, Xiao Jingxi, as the new Prince Heir of Yanbei and entrusted all matters of the princedom to the Prince Heir.

In the spring of the third year of Changshun, four-year-old little Emperor Li Huan choked to death on a piece of cake. Palace servants all claimed the little emperor had been poisoned by Prime Minister Yan, who sought to exterminate the Li bloodline and install his own eldest grandson as emperor through deception.

In the summer of the third year of Changshun, the Yanbei Prince’s mansion and the Hezhong Prince’s mansion successively issued proclamations of war, marching south under the banner of “eliminating treacherous ministers and purging the emperor’s side.” The commander of both armies was Yanbei Prince Heir Xiao Jingxi.

The Great Zhou Dynasty’s armies had grown complacent through years of comfort. Though they matched the Yanbei forces in numbers, there was a vast disparity in actual strength. Under Xiao Jingxi’s leadership, the Yanbei army swept southward like a crushing force, while the imperial forces retreated continuously. Finally, the Yanbei army reached the capital in one breath, laying siege to the city.

The Yanbei army maintained strict military discipline. Throughout their southern campaign, they never disturbed the common people. Initially, ordinary citizens would flee and hide upon seeing the Yanbei forces, but when they observed that the army engaged in no burning, killing, or looting, and even paid fair prices when requisitioning grain and supplies along the way, the people gradually lost their fear. Some confused common folk, seeing how handsome and imposing the Yanbei soldiers appeared, even brought their daughters to offer water and food, hoping to recruit good sons-in-law.

The man known as Black General Mu Hu had experienced such troubles.

At one point, a middle-aged farm woman clung to Mu Hu’s thick legs, rolling around and making a scene, refusing to let him leave.

“You accepted my daughter’s purse, so you must marry my daughter!”

Mu Hu glanced at the shy, hulking woman standing to the side, who was built like a mountain and even darker than himself, and nearly fell to his knees: “Auntie, let go! I didn’t accept your daughter’s purse! Don’t talk nonsense!”

The woman placed one hand on her hip and pointed at the coarse cloth bag hanging on Mu Hu’s horse: “You’re lying with your eyes wide open! What’s that? Isn’t that the purse my daughter embroidered with her own hands?”

Mu Hu’s face contorted. His grain bag had torn, so he had randomly picked up a dingy cloth bag. This was supposed to be a purse? Could someone wear such a massive thing on their waist without problems?

A circle of people had gathered around, laughing and enjoying the spectacle. Mu Hu scanned the crowd and pointed at Xiao Shun in the distance: “I’ll give it back to you! Give it back! Look, he’s handsome—go find him as a son-in-law. I’m already married with three children!”

The farm woman followed Mu Hu’s gesture to look at Xiao Shun, then frowned: “I need a son-in-law who can do farm work. Someone like you is just right.” She even gave Mu Hu’s waist and abdomen heavy pats, smiling smugly, “My family raises donkeys, so I can judge well. Someone like you is good for breeding.”

“Pfft—” Continuous bursts of laughter erupted around them. Zhu Ruomei, who had especially run over to watch the excitement, laughed especially wildly, while Mu Hu blushed furiously from the teasing, wishing he could find a hole to crawl into.

But then that bold woman spotted Zhu Ruomei in the crowd. Her eyes lit up, and she pointed at him, shouting: “You, boy, you! I have another unmarried daughter at home!”

Zhu Ruomei’s expression changed, and he ran away immediately, triggering another round of uproarious laughter.

In the winter of the third year of Changshun, the Yanbei army reached the Great Zhou Dynasty’s imperial palace.

Emperor Ping’s bloodline had been completely exterminated. The current emperor was a small puppet that Yan Ding had found from the imperial clan, still a nursing infant of just over a year old. Even in terms of bloodline legitimacy, he was less qualified than the Hezhong Prince. Even the Great Zhou court was divided into two factions, with many upright ministers who had been persecuted by the Yan faction feeling it would be better to support the Hezhong Prince rather than let the Yan faction control the government by manipulating distant imperial relatives.

On the day of entering the city, General Zhu, under Xiao Jingxi’s command, led troops to raid the Yan mansion. Yan Ding and his eldest son and grandson hid in the imperial palace, while other members of the Yan family were captured alive. The Yanbei army besieged the palace for three days without attacking. Seeing that their cause was lost, Yan Ding and his son looted all valuable items from the palace and attempted to escape through a secret passage, only to encounter Hezhong Prince Heir Li Tianyou, who had been waiting at the passage exit. Both father and son of the Yan clan were captured.

The Yanbei army quietly took control of the capital’s defenses. The people of the capital, hiding in their homes, didn’t even realize when the dynasty had changed.

With the treacherous faction eliminated, the next step was the new emperor’s enthronement.

Although this Yanbei military intervention would be viewed by later generations as usurpation, because the entire process was relatively gentle and smooth, the court ministers at the time hadn’t yet recognized this issue. Seeing the Yan faction’s downfall, they naturally prepared to support the Hezhong Prince’s accession, since the Hezhong Prince also bore the Li surname.

However, even after the Yan faction was eliminated and order was restored to the capital, the Hezhong Prince showed no intention of ascending the throne. Gradually, the court ministers began to sense something was amiss.

In the first month of the fourth year of Changshun, the Hezhong Prince led a petition earnestly requesting that the Yanbei Prince, who had somehow already arrived in the capital, ascend the throne. The entire court was in uproar.

Naturally, some loyalist remnants of the Great Zhou Dynasty refused to accept someone from another family as emperor. But when they thought to resist, they discovered that the entire capital was under Yanbei army control. While becoming emperor did require legitimacy, it ultimately depended on whose fist was harder. Those who tried to reason with the Yanbei Prince were either beaten down by him or hadn’t even been born yet.

On the eighth day of the second month in the fourth year of Changshun, the puppet emperor abdicated, and Yanbei Prince Xiao Yan ascended the throne as emperor, changing the dynastic name to Ming and establishing the era name Jianyuan. On the day of his enthronement, Xiao Yan produced the genuine Imperial Seal, and only then did the world discover that the so-called seals used by previous emperors had all been fake. Folk rumors spread that the Li family’s imperial mandate had ended, and the Xiao family was the true dragon.

After Xiao Yan’s enthronement, he naturally appointed the former Yanbei Prince’s primary consort, Lady Yun, as empress—this was without suspense, as the Yanbei Prince had only this one legitimate wife. However, his behavior in the subsequent establishment of a crown prince sparked considerable debate in later generations because he did not appoint his legitimate son, his only son, Xiao Jingxi, as crown prince. Instead, he appointed his legitimate grandson Xiao Weizhuo.

After Xiao Yan’s enthronement, Xiao Jingxi was enfeoffed as Yanbei Prince and continued to guard the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun.

Many scholars in later generations, after analyzing the history of this period, concluded that Xiao Yan’s decision to appoint his grandson rather than his son was the result of a mutual compromise between Yanbei and Hezhong.

Did Xiao Yan want to become emperor, but Li Qian didn’t? Compared to Xiao Yan, Li Qian was the legitimate descendant of dragons and phoenixes. No matter how good the relationship between the Yanbei Prince’s mansion and the Hezhong Prince’s mansion, when it came to the imperial throne, all friendships were mere clouds. So why was it Xiao Yan, as Yanbei Prince, who ultimately became emperor, rather than Hezhong Prince Li Qian? Was Li Qian truly content with this?

Later scholars derived several reasons:

Reason One: Li Qian was not unwilling to become emperor; he simply lacked the power to do so.

The Yanbei Prince had managed Yanbei for many years, and the Yanbei army was strong and well-equipped. In terms of military might, Li Qian couldn’t defeat the Yanbei Prince. After all, the Hezhong Prince had controlled Hezhong’s forces for only a few years and had few troops at his disposal. So Li Qian had to be pragmatic—when your fist isn’t as hard as the other person’s, what can you do with the great rivers and mountains except hand them over?

Reason Two: The Hezhong Prince’s line had no heirs.

The Hezhong Prince and his consort had only one son and one daughter. The son had been married for years without producing offspring, reportedly because Empress Dowager Yan had once poisoned him, severing his bloodline. Even if the Hezhong Prince ascended the throne, he would eventually have to appoint a clan member as heir anyway—why bother? His only daughter had married into Yanbei, and his granddaughter was the daughter-in-law of Yanbei Prince Xiao Yan and the mother of the Crown Prince whom Xiao Yan personally appointed. So in truth, the Hezhong Prince’s bloodline was actually in the Yanbei Prince’s mansion.

Reason Three: This was the result of a mutual compromise between the Yanbei Prince and the Hezhong Prince.

The Hezhong Prince had no successors and lacked the power to ascend the throne. Rather than benefit some unknown distant relative, it was better to support his great-grandson, who was, after all, his bloodline. The Yanbei Prince also made concessions, appointing his grandson rather than his son to ensure the Hezhong Prince’s interests. If Yanbei had appointed his son as crown prince, who knew whether the imperial throne would fall to the Hezhong Prince’s great-granddaughter’s offspring decades later? Who knew how many wives Xiao Jingxi might marry or how many sons he might have?

Reason Four: The father conquers the realm outside while the son reaps the benefits behind—isn’t this only natural?

The Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun were the northern barrier of the Great Ming Dynasty. The Yanbei Prince’s mansion had guarded the northern frontier for several generations and could never be abandoned. But at that time, aside from Xiao Jingxi, no one else had the ability, reputation, and capacity to defend the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun. If it were anyone else commanding heavy troops, Xiao Yan might have worried, but with his son guarding the realm for his grandson, what was there to worry about? The realm that he, as grandfather, had worked so hard to conquer while bearing the world’s condemnation would ultimately belong to his precious grandson anyway.

For all these reasons, Xiao Jingxi became Yanbei Prince and remained in Yanbei with his princess consort and young son, while his eldest son, Azhuo, became crown prince and reaped the benefits.

In the Yanbei Prince’s mansion in Yunyang City, Ren Yaoqi was teaching her five-year-old daughter Awu how to write. Though young, Awu had a calm and well-behaved temperament, very much in her mother’s style. Little Awu was her father’s most beloved treasure.

Xiao Jingxi entered from outside and stood quietly to the side, watching his daughter write.

“Papa, you’re blocking the light.” Awu looked up, blinking her eyes as she spoke to her father in soft, sweet tones.

Xiao Jingxi quickly moved aside and sat down on her other side, leaning down to kiss her little cheek: “Sorry, Papa didn’t notice.”

Awu smiled softly: “It’s okay, Papa should pay attention next time.”

Ren Yaoqi looked behind Xiao Jingxi and frowned: “Where’s Axuan? Didn’t you take him out to play?”

While watching his daughter write stroke by stroke, Xiao Jingxi held his wife’s hand and said calmly: “I let Silly Girl play with him.”

Upon hearing this, Ren Yaoqi immediately had a bad premonition. She glared at Xiao Jingxi and immediately stood up to go outside.

Awu turned to look at her mother, then at her father, and seriously criticized: “Papa, did you bully little brother again? Mama will be angry.”

Xiao Jingxi smiled gently at his daughter: “Birds of a feather flock together, so Papa let Axuan play with Silly Girl. Isn’t it better for Papa to accompany you and your mother?”

Little Awu looked at her father with some sympathy: “Whether Awu says it’s good or not doesn’t matter. If Mama says it’s not good, then Papa will be in trouble. Papa should quickly hide in Awu’s wardrobe.”

Ren Yaoqi walked out of the room and, from afar, could see her youngest son, two-year-old Axuan, rolling around in the grass with a white, massive creature. Occasionally, they would roll into a ball together, their bodies and heads covered in grass debris.

Seeing Ren Yaoqi approach, Axuan drooled and laughed foolishly: “Mama… play…”

Silly Girl ran over fawningly with a foolish bark: “Awoooo—”

Ren Yaoqi gritted her teeth: “Xiao Jingxi!”

Inside the room, Xiao Jingxi’s ears twitched, then he calmly picked up his daughter and headed toward the side door: “Awu, Papa will take you somewhere else to play.”