The Rise and Fall of the Golden Palace

The thirty-eighth year of the Zutian reign of the Great Shi Kingdom:

The eldest prince, Prince Xiao, staged a military coup, and Chancellor Zhao Youzheng restored order at court. Beyond Jingzhou, the second prince, Prince Yong, led the border army against foreign invaders, while the third prince, Prince Huai, commanded troops against the rebel army. In the end, they crushed Prince Xiao's forces.

The aged emperor of Great Shi fell gravely ill after the upheaval and died. The throne passed to the crown prince, Zhou Huaiyi, who was only fifteen years old. The following year, he ushered in the first year of the Yuanlai era.

Worried about the future of Great Shi, the late emperor left the new ruler a secret edict: if the empire faced a change of hands or the threat of destruction, extraordinary measures could be taken to eliminate all rival forces...

For years, Prince Yong had guarded the northern frontier, holding off the Northern Yan Kingdom and securing a brief peace. At court, with the support of Chancellor Zhao Youzheng and Prince Huai, Great Shi had managed to stabilize its rule.

Then, on the night of the winter solstice in the fourth year of Yuanlai, Xiao Quan, Minister of Rites of Great Shi, was assassinated in his own residence. An assassin was captured that night, but months of interrogation yielded nothing. The following year, the court was plunged into fresh political turmoil when the chief examiner of the spring imperial examinations became embroiled in a scandal. In the second month of the fifth year of Yuanlai, the emperor secretly ordered the Censorate to send someone to meet with the assassin held by the Court of Judicial Review, hoping to find a way through the deadlock...