Tales of the Nine Provinces

More than two hundred years after Zhou destroyed Shang, a sudden rebellion broke out in Anyang, the Zhou capital. The legitimate princess, who should have taken the throne, eloped with someone on the very day of her accession. She later bore a child by the man she had fled with. Circumstances forced them to entrust the child to the Jun family of Butterfly Valley, a renowned poison-making clan in the martial world, in the place where her beloved had come from.

In the vassal state of Chen, Lady Feng, a favored concubine of the Marquis of Chen, was suspected by the clan of being a demoness of the Tushan tribe and was denied the position of principal wife. She later gave birth to a daughter, whom Lady Wei, the marquis's principal wife, could not tolerate. Together with the clan, Lady Wei framed the girl as someone destined to bring about the state's destruction. The Marquis had no choice but to protect them both. He did his best to suppress the news and arranged for them to live at Chonghua Temple, near Sheng'an, the capital, on Mount Zhongshou, where they could cultivate their virtue.

In the vassal state of Song, the Duke of Song angered his clan by treating the Tushan demon tribe well. Seeing this, a lowborn concubine joined forces with several noble families to have the eldest son, born to the duke's principal wife, Lady Yeyue, and heir to the throne, wrongfully put to death. The Yejia clan of Lady Yeyue was nearly wiped out. Protected by the few members of the Yejia who remained, Lady Yeyue's daughter fled. The concubine sent people to hunt her down relentlessly. Gravely poisoned, she fell into the Tong River, and was never heard from again.

Jizhou, Yanzhou, Qingzhou, Xuzhou, Yangzhou, Jingzhou, Yuzhou, Liangzhou, and Yongzhou make up the Nine Provinces.

The Great Zhou includes the states of Song, Chu, Cai, Xi, Chen, Qi, Lu, Jin, Wei, Yan, Liang, and Zheng, which was destroyed, as well as Jiang, which was also destroyed.