Chapter One.

Chirping and melodies of birds welcoming a new day filled the air. Yet at Mellow Grassland in Tianyu Plains,there was hardly a single human soul left to join the birds in embracing the new day or even appreciating their soothing melodies. A mass of dead soldiers filled the once radiant grassland; others piled on top of others like rocks while others had some of their body parts missing. A ripped flag flapping amidst the air was the only thing left standing.The flag was white with a red-crowned crane pattern at the centre. The flag had been ripped horizontally into two symmetrical halves. This was the flag of Zhenyan State,a state that had severely lost in war against the Qijun State,the Extra natural Forces State. Eighty percent of the dead soldiers being Zhenyan State soldiers was one of the major losses the Zhenyan State had incurred after its war against Qijun State.

It was now two months since Zhenyan State had been defeated in war. Several patriotic soldiers had lost their lives while defending the state but the emperor had neither compensated nor rewarded their families and neither did he show plans of doing so. There was a rumour circulating in the court that the Qijun State would initiate the second war to completely reclaim the Zhenyan state. This had created a ruckus in court with ministers pleading with the emperor to take action but their pleas seemed to have fallen on dead ears. The fretful ministers resort to relay their concerns to the emperor through the Empress and the Imperial Consorts. None of their concerns reached him though since they were afraid to tell him about issues concerning politics. Zhenyan State was a male dominated state therefore the Emperor had set a rule that women were not allowed to engaged in matters concerning politics let alone giving opinions about it.

Yan Jing,the emperor of Zhenyan State was a lecher who spent most of his time taking scented baths ,being massaged by courtesans and drinking with them. He had three wives;Wan Yin,who was the empress ,Fan Qiang and Song Hao who were the first and second imperial consorts respectively. None of his wives was resilient enough to stand up to him. After the death of his only brother ,the throne was naturally passed on to Yan Jing though he didn't have the least bit of desire to rule the state so that's why he showed no concerns to serious matters regarding the state. The ministers couldn't impeach him since there was no one to take over after him. His eldest son Yan Yi was thirteen years old and was a little naive so the ministers felt they would rather wait for him to be mature enough.

At the age of thirty five, Emperor Yan already had nine sons;Yan Yi,Yan Hong,Yan San,Yan Xun,Yan Wu,Yan Liu,Yan Qi,Yan Yu and Yan Hai.For this reason, the state was known as 'The Nine Princes State.' Since they were born of different women,the princes had a small age difference with the least age difference being one month.Yan Yi ,Yan Xun,Yan Liu and Yan Yu were born of the Empress while Yan Hong,Yan Hai were born of Consort Fan Qiang and Yan San,Yan Wu and Yan Qi were born of Consort Song Hao.

Finally the emperor paid heed to their pleas and decided to think of a method to negotiate with the Qijun State to stop them from initiating war. Usually such negotiations became successful by forming things such marriage alliances or engagements if the ones involved hadn't reached marriageable age. Giving out a portion of your land to the other state was also another way of negotiating but that meant Zhenyan State would still incur losses and also the dominant state would end up claiming a larger piece of land than the recessive state offered so most states rarely used this method. Emperor Yan's sisters had all been married so he wouldn't betroth any of them to the Qijun Emperor. The Qijun State's eldest prince was only seven years old and unfortunately for Zhenyan State,not only did they not have a princess of that age but also they didn't have a princess at all.

For a week the ministers cracked their brains trying to figure out alternative methods. Offering a large sum of gold taels was also a valid suggestion but the state had gone bankrupt after the war. After a while of Brainstorming,Minister Bai Que,the Minister of Justice finally came up with a valid suggestion. He suggested they offer one of the princes to be a hostage prince in the Qijun State while hoping a princess might be born soon. This idea was embraced by everyone except that the Ministers argued over which of the princes was to be sent. Some gave suggestions according to the relationships they had with the Empress and the Consorts.

"I suggest we offer His Highness the Ninth Prince,the youngest prince."

"He's only two years old . He's too young."

"I suggest His Highness the Eighth Prince. He began crafting things at a very young age and he's four years old so I think he's suitable to go."

"Why isn't any of you suggesting the older highnesses?"

"We can't risk to let the older highnesses to go. They have joined the Imperial Academy so we can't disturb their study. His Highness the Eighth Prince is supposed to join the following month let him go before he joins."

"Her Majesty has more sons than the others so one of them should go."

Most of the Ministers seemed to be proposing the Eighth Prince Yan Yu to go. The distinct arguments among the ministers filled the palace. Emperor Yan buried his forehead in his hand and closed his eyes. He was clearly irritated by the noise but he didn't bother to shut them up. He only signalled the eunuch to move closer and he whispered something in his ear. Having noticed the mysterious communication,the ministers suddenly became silent and composed themselves anticipating Emperor Yan's conclusion about the hostage prince. To their surprise, Emperor Yan stood up and left leave them stranded.