October, the ninth year of the Kaibao era of the Northern Song Dynasty (976 AD). In Bianliang, the capital of the Northern Song Dynasty, autumn was in full swing, and the chill was growing. Emperor Zhao Kuangyin, the founding emperor of the Song Dynasty, was in his prime, his civil and military achievements remarkable. The Southern Tang had submitted, the Wu and Yue regions were loyal, and the Northern Han was barely clinging to life; the Song Dynasty's unification was at its zenith. However, beneath this flourishing and prosperous era, a hidden undercurrent was silently surging within the deep palace. Emperor Zhao Kuangyin's health had recently deteriorated. Old injuries from his early campaigns, coupled with years of arduous state affairs, had left him feeling fatigued and occasionally dizzy since the beginning of autumn. The imperial physician, examining his pulse, only stated that he was deficient in both qi and blood, and needed…
