An all-character Assassin’s Fate fanfic. Pairings: Zhi-Li, Zhong-Meng, Qin-Guang, and the two Bais. The historical setting draws on the balance of power among the aristocratic clans of the Eastern Jin Dynasty. The royal house of Juntian is weak, and the great clans within the kingdom keep one another’s power in check. Class consciousness is especially strong. Aristocratic families of equal standing have intermarried for generations, while families of different ranks rarely do. If such a marriage does happen, the spouse from the lower-ranking family can join the higher-ranking family, which naturally brings many advantages in their official career and elsewhere. However, those born into higher-ranking families generally look down on those of humble origins. The five most prestigious and highest-ranking families in Juntian, comparable to the Langya Wangs and Chenjun Xies of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, are the Jian, Meng, Zhi, Ling, and Murong clans. For generations, these five families have balanced one another at court, made decisions on state affairs, and intermarried.
[This story was first posted on Lofter. Because of sensitive-word issues and the strange way links to Weibo posts keep failing on Lofter, I’m also serializing it on Jinjiang, partly so I can link to it from elsewhere.]
