The Dynasty's Dark Moonlight

If anyone in the Zhou Dynasty was universally loathed, Xie Qingrang would be the undisputed champion. After all, he topped the public poll for most hated powerful official, and he deserved every curse hurled at him.

As the most powerful minister in Great Zhou, his life was extraordinary. He had two emperors killed in succession, slaughtered a hundred court officials, and even buried hundreds of thousands of Western Regions soldiers alive. A hundred years later, the earth around the Western Regions’ imperial city still had not lost its bloody hue.

Any one of these deeds would have earned a place in the history books, yet he accomplished them all by himself. More terrifying still, he was not even twenty-five when he achieved them. The name Xie Qingrang became a nightmare for everyone in the Zhou Dynasty.

Despite being so despised, Xie Qingrang did one good thing: he died young. Before he had even celebrated his twenty-fifth birthday, he took poison and ended his life of wreaking havoc on the Zhou Dynasty.

It is worth mentioning that on the day he died, Chang’an resounded with drums and gongs, and firecrackers filled the air. The celebrations lasted three days and three nights, with even more fanfare than the founding of the nation.

Though everyone hated him, no one could deny that he had one virtue: he was incredibly handsome. Everyone who saw him had their understanding of beauty forever changed. For a long time, the name Xie Qingrang was practically synonymous with beauty.

With that face, beautiful enough to enrage both gods and men, he set fathers against sons and brothers against each other, staging one royal farce after another. Even when the army sent to rescue the king surrounded his residence, the besieging general could not bring himself to kill him.

In the end, he drank the poisoned wine himself, bringing his glorious yet brief life to a close.