The Prince of Dingbei forced his way into the palace. The seventh prince of the Great Sheng Dynasty cut off the emperor's head with his own hands in exchange for a chance to live.
Amid the massed cavalry of the frontier, Wei Xun held up the bloodied head and knelt among the ruins of brocade and song, bowing his head in submission.
His beauty was more dazzling and choking than the blood covering the ground. The world once called him the Phoenix.
Wei Xun survived by the skin of his teeth, and made life miserable for everyone around him.
The Prince of Dingbei had people watch him day and night.
His old friends secretly asked whether he was planning a rebellion.
The aristocratic clans waited for him to scheme, dress up, and put on a grand performance that would turn the world upside down.
The Prince of Dingbei ascended the throne, leaving the treasury empty. His second son went around picking fights with the aristocratic clans over military provisions. When he spotted Wei Xun, he dragged him along to kick down the clans' gates, so Wei Xun wouldn't cause trouble and turn the world upside down.
Together, one kick apiece, they toppled the foundations the clans had built over a thousand years.
Theme: Cleaving a path through every obstacle
