If you've read Romance of the Three Kingdoms (ROTK), you'll realize that most of the major characters gain fame as a result of suppressing the Yellow Turban Rebellion. In The Foreign Empress, most of these characters have gained prestige and power through suppressing local bandits and just building up their own powerbases as the central government declines. Since The Foreign Empress shifts the Yellow Turban rebellion back nearly two decades (and the birth and marriage of Emperor Ling forward), many of the famous personalities from the Three Kingdoms period are somewhat older. For the most part, I've shifted their birthdates forward by around fifteen years to keep them younger and more active in the story. However, I've also kept the birthdates of some of their famous children, legends like the Sun siblings, somewhat the same, making them very close in age to Aurelia for obvious reasons ;).
Also, most characters have a childhood name, an adult name, and a styled name. For Cao Cao, his childhood name was Cao Ahman, his adult name was Cao Cao, and he styled himself as Cao Mengde. This system is CONFUSING AS ALL HELL. For the purpose of clarity (and because I don't want to do a lot of research), I'll be using the most well-known names of all characters. Assume all my fictional characters are using their adult names (despite the fact that they're two-letter names instead of the normal one).
So, here's a quick list of famous people (and their children) that have been introduced so far (ranked by age then relation):
· Dong Zhuo
oHis brother, Dong Min
o His granddaughter, Dong Bai
· Ma Teng and his wife Hua Lanli
o His son and heir, Ma Chao
o His (fictional) daughter, Ma Yunlu
o His (fictional) nephew, Ma Guanxin
o His sworn brother and fellow warlord, Han Sui
· Sun Jian and his wives: Lady Wu, Lady Wu Guotai (the younger fictional sister of Lady Wu who appears in ROTK), and Lady Chen
o Children by Lady Wu
§ His eldest son, Sun Ce
§ His second son, Sun Quan
§ His third son, Sun Yi
§ His fourth son, Sun Kuang
§ His daughter, Sun Ren/ Sun Shangxiang (I'll be using Sun Ren)
o Children by Lady Wu Guotai
§ Son, Sun Lang
§ Daughter, Sun Luxin, married to Hong Zi (Her actual name is unknown)
o Children by Lady Chen
§ Daughter, Sun Canlan, married to Pan Mi (Her actual name is unknown)
Wow! That list was mildly egregious, don't worry though, only the bolded names are actually important to the story. Also, can I just say that Sun Jian is a bit of a legend in ROTK and historically. Three wives and incest? (Welcome to ancient China kids.) Damn... That's kinda impressive.
One final note, other famous warlords and personalities like Cao Cao, Liu Bei, Zhuge Liang, Guan Yu (a man so badass he's literally still revered as a god in China today), etc. will be making appearances later. ;)
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The Foreign Empress
Historical FictionA cold and potentially fatal marriage, an imperial court embroiled in assassination and conflict, a hidden conspiracy that could shatter not just a four-century-long peace but the empire itself. In the midst of it all, a girl whose struggle to survi...
