As the saying goes, a realm divided for long will unite, and one united for long will divide. The Zhou dynasty had held onto its kingdom for centuries, but during the reign of King You of Zhou, an absurd incident took place. Hoping to make his beloved Bao Si smile, the king used the beacon towers like fireworks to fool the feudal lords. When the Quanrong really attacked, the beacons were lit again, but the lords thought it was another prank and no one came to the rescue. And so King You met his end.
His son, King Ping of Zhou, saw that Haojing (Xi'an) was no longer safe, so he quickly packed up and moved to Luoyang. This became known as the Eastern Zhou. But after the move, the Zhou royal house was like a fallen noble family: it had no money or troops. The lords still called the king the Son of Heaven to his face, but behind his back they no longer took him seriously.
From then on, the realm descended into chaos. The powerful lords wanted to be top dog, while the weak desperately sought protection. Today one would destroy another, tomorrow the other would plot against them. The Five Hegemons of the Spring and Autumn period, like Duke Huan of Qi and Duke Wen of Jin, at least cared about appearances and sent declarations of war before fighting. By the time of the Seven Warring States, with ruthless powers like Qin, Chu, Yan, and Qi, all pretenses were gone, and one war of annihilation followed another.
In these five hundred years of chaos, there were loyal ministers and righteous heroes, as well as treacherous villains. Some turned the tables against all odds, while others lost everything with a single wrong move. Our story begins in this tumultuous age. Watch heroes rise, conspiracies succeed, and discover who will ultimately claim the realm!
