I Can Destroy a Century-Old Dynasty with a Flick of My Hand

[Historical what-if] [Alternate history] [Ensemble family saga]

The Great Ye dynasty has stood for three hundred years, and the Xiahou clan has flourished for two centuries.

This top-tier noble house has produced seven chancellors and nine ministers. It has never relied on military might, yet has woven an unshakable web of influence throughout the court and countryside.

Its children are trained in both the literary and martial arts: entering public life, they become capable ministers who bring peace to the realm; at home, they are guardians of the Confucian tradition.

Yet the deeper their roots grow, the warier the emperor becomes.

In the autumn of Jinghe 19, a secret edict arrives in the capital. The Son of Heaven no longer bothers to hide his intentions: he means to uproot the Xiahou clan’s century-old foundations in one fell swoop. On the eve of his journey to the capital, clan head Xiahou Xuanmu activates the highest secret plan, passed down orally by generations of Xiahou clan heads in the ancestral hall:

The Burning and Division of the Lineage.

One branch goes to its death; the other vanishes into hiding. The names of those who die are carved onto memorial tablets, their incense offerings kept burning forever by the clan. Those who go into hiding bear the bloodline and secrets of their fallen family, struggling to survive in a realm that could collapse at any moment as they await the chance to make their next move.

And sixteen-year-old Xiahou Liao is the first person pushed into the secret passage that night.

He has no idea what awaits him. He only remembers his uncle’s final words:

“Don’t look back. You carry the family’s legacy.”