King Han followed his father to fight the Xiongnu. At Wolf Mountain, he annihilated more than forty thousand enemy soldiers and killed the Left Wise King. Just as the Southern Xiongnu's Chanyu, Lugu, was terrified and ready to surrender, King Xia Ying died suddenly from an infected arrow wound. His son, King Han, burned the late king's decree, recalled his troops to Xianyang, declared himself King Wu, forged an imperial edict to execute the Crown Prince and slaughtered his supporters, then secured Xianyang.
Amid the upheaval, the Crown Prince's favorite concubine was abducted and hidden away by the opportunistic King Liang, Lü Rui, because of her beauty.
Twenty-five years later, the Crown Princess died of illness. Her posthumous son, Lü Teng, sowed discord and drove King Wu to force Lü Rui into rebellion. Lü Rui's army attacked Xianyang, where Lü Rui was killed and the rebels collapsed. Lü Teng took the Southern Xiongnu Crown Prince, who had been held hostage in Xianyang, and led a thousand cavalrymen out of the city. He surrendered to the Southern Xiongnu's Chanyu, Lugu.
That year, Chanyu Lugu married his daughter to Lü Teng.
The following autumn, news that King Wu of Xia was preparing to send troops beyond the Great Wall reached Longcheng, the Xiongnu capital.
Longcheng fell into panic. Debate raged over whether to seek peace or fight, while the Chanyu, who had hoped to display his continued might by holding an autumn hunt and intimidate all sides, grew sicker by the day after catching a chill. This further deepened the divisions among the factions in Longcheng.
And then the devil began to make his entrance, riding on ambition.
My Dear Wife, I Really Don't Want to Take the Imperial Exams
The Turbulent Tang
The Carefree Young Noble