Will Of Heaven

一

Throughout history, the greatest generals of the empire didn't die honorably on the battlefields, they died in the hands of their own kin, they fall not into the strategic plans of their enemies on the battlefield but of the conspiracies in the imperial court.

These threats to the Dragon Throne happened when the Emperor has yet to reach adulthood and was crowned at such a young age, when the Emperor became overindulgent in women, letting the civil officials handle the government affairs, or when the Empire is being invaded by enemies and was repeatedly raided by the barbarians.

A wise Emperor, however, knows how to consolidate his rule. My imperial father has been worshipped by millions of citizens in our Empire and has been cursed by millions of Hu even after his death. His name became immortalized and was carved in history as the greatest emperor of Xie.

The woman named Chen Yue, who he promised to treasure, building her a golden house, was forgotten. She was eventually thrown by him after she lost her value, having no use to him anymore when his throne became stabilized.

My imperial father, Xie Yusheng, is the ninth son of the previous emperor. Who could have thought that he will surpass his eight elder brothers who are eyeing the dragon's throne and have the last laugh?

Of course, when one wants to become an emperor with many competitive rivals, this cannot be achieved without a powerful backing, and it so happened that my mother, who was known as Princess Chen back then, daughter of the Emperor's sister and the Chancellor of the left was yet to be engaged.

My maternal grandmother, Princess Guan had offered an engagement to the crown prince first but was rejected by the Empress. Feeling greatly insulted, she retaliated by turning to another one of the Emperor's favored concubines, Lady Hui, offering a marriage between their children.

Lady Hui agreed. From then on, Princess Guan fully supported the ninth son of the emperor, pushing him to the dragon throne using all of her resources together with Lady Hui's brilliant plot. Until finally! Their efforts finally bore fruit, the Emperor died and he left a decree, stating that the ninth prince, Xie Yusheng will ascend the dragon throne, becoming the son of heaven! (The Emperor is usually referred to as the son of heaven or the mandate of heaven in ancient China)

Emperor Yusheng, at the age of 16, claimed the dragon throne, following that, he married his cousin, Princess Chen, and crowned her as an Empress.

On the account of her being his first love, she had prohibited him from taking any concubines. Such insolence cannot be taken lightly by any rulers yet who was Empress Chen? A woman who has a powerful clan that ruled over in the Imperial court.

As he was still quite young, he has a few supporters. There are still his third and seventh brothers banished in the borders, his uncle that has a title of the ³king with a hidden private army. In short, he can be overthrown at any given moment. Left without choice, he can only leave his wife to do as she please, relying on her powerful Chen clan to support him.

Furthermore, the Empress Dowager, who became the Grand Empress Dowager after he claimed the throne, is now ruling over the court as regent in a pretext that the Emperor is yet to have his capping ceremony (Coming of age for the boys when they reached 20)

Despite how controlling the women around him are, Emperor Yusheng remained ambitious. He knows that now is not the right time to go against these women who only know how to play in an internal conflict, forgetting the most crucial part that has been a thorn in the Xie Empire's side, the ²Hu from Jiye in the northern border who had been constantly looting and raiding their northern borders and the nearby city-states. Their raids would become massive especially during Winter. Nevertheless, Emperor Yusheng has no way to stop them at the moment, his position in the imperial court is unstable, he must bid his time to gather his own forces before launching an offensive attack.