In the summer of the ninth year of Jinglan, the Xiongnu launched a massive invasion of the Great Xiao Kingdom.
The three commanderies of Yunzhong, Xingyue, and Beidou fell.
Emperor Xiao Jingtian flew into a rage. The Prince of Zhenbei was thrown into prison to await execution.
The Seventh Prince, Xiao Yi, pleaded for his maternal grandfather, only to be beaten until his skin split. The eighteen-year-old boy’s hair turned white overnight.
That autumn, the once-feared Prince of Zhenbei, who had defended the northern frontier, was finally executed in a shower of blood, though innocent.
“By the Mandate of Heaven, the Emperor decrees: Xiao Yi is hereby made Prince of Yunzhong. In ten days, he shall proceed to Yunzhong and govern the three commanderies. So decreed!”
The story has a strong sense of reality👍 and is not some random fabrication. Although it is fictional, it is like the real thing.