No Repeats

The missing heir

The establishment of the Great Han Empire started when a small nation state became ambitious and eyed the resources of the surrounding nation states. At that time, the empire was nothing but a collection of independently ruled nation states. There was no systematic government rule or formalised governance beyond military prowess and trade abilities.

This little nation state led by the Zhou military clan was the smallest in size and population compared to the other nation states. They were supported by the strategists from the Murong clan and the administrators from the Rui clan. The combination of perfect timing, brilliant minds born from these two clans and the blessings of the heavens, became the perfect trifactor for the Zhou clan to quickly expand its territories.

Some say conquest is easy, but governing is hard. This was especially poignant to the Zhou clan patriarch while on his death bed when he realised that his newly found empire was being torn internally by political strife and externally by surrounding enemies and natural disasters. The initial growth of the empire was too rapid, and the administration could not keep up and sucking dry the newly established treasury coffers.

When the founding emperor died the Empire was only one third of its current size.

Driven by need and the same expansionist blood as his father, the new clan leader decided to formally name the new government, the states and territories under the Zhou family rule has become the Han Empire.

He continued the military conquests with the Murong clan while leaving the Rui clan to effectively govern the empire. During his life, the militaristic emperor continued to expand the Han territories to close to its current size and doubled the achievements of his father.

Due to being absent in constant military campaigns, the emperor died with only two heirs to the throne. The crown prince was supported by his brother and they started a new era of peace and prosperity.

This period of over seventy years was considered as the golden era, where the empire's administration and legal system matured, and economic activities bloomed. The people of the empire grew wealthy under the safe protection of the great emperor and his regent brother.

The greatness of this duo was so evident that surrounding territories willingly absorbed their boundaries, the people of the Han Empire became so proud of their wealth and government that they added a prefix to the empire's name, and now the empire is known to all the countries in the west as the Great Han Empire.

Unlike the Zhou clan, who have become peaceful and concentrating on matters of governance and finding technologies to improve their people's lives, the Murong clan started to become more ambitious towards the Great Han Empire's territories and ultimately the Zhou clan's throne.

However, the Murong clan recognised the greatest barrier to their ambitions, that is the people's love for the Zhou family and taking the throne by force will only result in rebellions and civil wars. Instead of outright civil war, they have decided to use a two-pronged approach to claim the throne, military superiority, and elimination of the Zhou clan lineage.

The Murong clan have become an invasive cancer in the Great Han Empire, backed by political alliances and almost unlimited resources. They dominate trade and economic activity through cover branch families like the Huang merchant families to provide the financial resources and infiltrated all government administration and military powers over the last forty years.

The emperor was straddled with government affairs, worked to the bone to control the growth of the Murong clan's powers while simultaneously uproot the infestation that have begun to rot the empire.

When he realised that his own harem has been infiltrated and controlled by the Murong clan it was too late, the women and their supporting powers were impossible to shake. The most devastating move have been that despite careful selection of the Empress position, the leader of the harem, the Emperor had chosen an agent of the Murong clan who have been indoctrinated since birth to sacrifice her life and happiness to achieve the Murong clan's ambitions.

The Emperor has no alternative option but to look towards the great Rui clan for hope and salvation, but the heavens seemed to have condemned the Zhou Emperor and the Rui clan did not produce a single female suitable for the huge responsibility for ten years. When the Emperor and the Rui Prime Minister felt that they are waiting in vain, the Prime Minister's wife gave birth to a daughter.

After waiting sixteen years, the daughter of the Prime Minister, Rui Xian was sent to the palace to perform for the Emperor. This girl was like a lotus flower, elegant, beautiful, and graceful, she had been highly educated in the four arts, politics as well as martial arts. Rui Xian received the education suitable for the Empress and she became the symbol of hope for the empire.

The beautiful Rui Xian captivated the Emperor and he loved everything about her, talents, personality, looks and family power. The Emperor tried to break tradition and create another empress position but was opposed so strongly by the ministers that he had to settle for bestowing her the position of Noble Imperial Consort, just a rank below Empress.

The Emperor was close to fifty years old at that time and his harem have only managed to produce two surviving princesses, one with a disability and the other driven mad when she was married out of the palace. All the Emperor's and the loyalist's hope rests with Rui Xian, who had the backing of the powerful Rui clan, the only clan with enough power and wealth to directly oppose the Murong clan.

When Rui Xian fell pregnant, she kept it a secret for as long as possible through the support of loyal maids, guards, and servants. The Rui clan tried their best to hold against the Murong clan, but they knew that this baby was the empire's last chance, if the baby survives into adulthood then the war is not lost.

The night Rui Xian gave birth, the parents took one look at the baby and stamped a mark on the back of the baby's neck to establish the baby's identity. With the concurrence of the Emperor, the Rui clan hid the newborn deep in layers of identity and misdirection.

The Emperor then issued an Imperial Decree that the child was sent away for training and will return one day to inherit the empire when they come of age and ready to handle the great responsibilities of running the Empire.

After this, the Emperor and the Rui clan doubled down on their efforts to destroy the Murong clan behind the scenes while trying to maintain an uneasy peace at the surface. The power play was evenly matched and despite the Emperor cutting off the clan's resources, they kept coming back and launching their own attacks.

But the balance of power between the Murong and Rui clans have been completely tilted since the appearance of Huang Yu Li, an upstart from a merchant family who have managed to work his way up and currently control the empire's strongest army. The secret service unit has also been transformed to recognise only the powers of the Huang General and act as his private assassination and information force.

This has been a devastating blow for the aging and weak Emperor and the Rui clan. Even though the Rui clan elders suspect the Huang family to have connections with the Murong clan, they have no solid proof, and their many attempts to thwart the ascent of Huang Yu Li have been met with devastating failures. It was impossible to imagine that such a talent has appeared to help the Murong clan without any connections to the clan themselves.

The Rui clan themselves are weakening after multiple assassination attempts on their patriarch and powerbases across the empire. Previously they have only had to contend with the known force of the Murong clan, and now they have the Huang upstart and various fractions of the Wulin to fight.

The Rui Prime Minister's hair have turned white and his body thin and fragile from stress and worrying for the fate of the Great Han Empire. The more the Murong clan and Huang General's powers increased, the Rui clan's numbers and power decline. The Prime Minister and the Emperor's greatest worry is that even if they recall the heir, the stability of the governance is in flux and their safety is at risk.

The Noble Imperial Consort's beauty has now become haggard and tired after years of battling the Murong clan's forces inside the imperial harem and facing off with the Empress. The powers she once had from the Rui clan's own prowess is weakening as her clan's powers decline.