MinZhao Dynasty.
Two races walked the earth; Humans, and... Demons, with the demons dominating over the humans and The demon king claiming overlord over all.
The demon clan is ruled just by the demon king, while the human clan consists of three tribes; The Shan tribe, the Yu tribe, and the Yun tribe. Each tribe has an emperor, and they all answered to the demon king.
The Yu tribe is the richest and most powerful tribe of all. They had an army of warriors, plus they are enriched with vast knowledge of cultivation, alchemy, martial arts, sword handling, and the dark arts. These knowledge were secret treasures the tribe held sacred, and though they all answered to the demon king, this is what motivates the tenacious emperors of the Yu tribe to stand against the demon king sometimes.
But these few instances of resistance against the demon king, often led to the demon clan always waging wars against the Yu tribe.
However, these wars always came to an end with both tribe and clan agreeing to a truce.
It's wasn't that the demons were scared of the Yu tribe, but the Yu tribe was a threat that needed to be threaded with meticulously.
The demons were powerful! Some high ranking demons such as the demon king has even reached a cultivation level of being able to access immortality of the immortal realm. Yes, cultivation level. The demons aren't born as immortals, they cultivate to get to that point, but they are born more powerful with much more powerful souls than the humans. Initially, the demon clan was the only one in possession of such knowledge of cultivation, alchemy, and the dark arts. But the Yu tribe managed to get their hands on it and it hasn't been business as usual for the demon clan with the Yu tribe. The Yu tribe even has a few cultivators that have cultivated to a point of reaching almost immortality. This has earned the Yu tribe its respect in the power struggle.
The Yu tribe though having what it takes to withstand the demon clan and its monstrosities, still was careful in its dealings with the demon clan. The emperor was always strategic, he avoided unnecessary wars, because if the demon king was to go berserk in wrath, it'll only be a matter of time before the Yu tribe is wiped off completely.
The other tribes seemed quite complacent with their situations, and preferred to answer submissively to the demon king, as their emperors preferred the wealth and small luxury of peace they had, than a war against the demon clan or the tribes.
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Yu Tribe.
The imperial palace.
A young boy, who seemed to be twelve years of age, was running round the corners of the imperial palace, a huge but mischievous smile was on his handsome face. From his attire, you could tell he is of nobility. He continued this movement until he got to a part of the mighty fence of the imperial palace. He looked around, and when he saw that no one was in sight, his mischievous smile broadened.
He removed the vines on the wall of the fence, revealing a small double sided door, which he opened and walked in.
"Jing Xuan!" He called out excitedly.
"Jing Xuan, I'm here. Where are you?" He continued, and started walking round the place in search of this Jing Xuan. The place was a small cottage with a large garden of flowers and trees and other plants.
By the time he walked to the back of the house, he saw a woman holding a boy- Of his age, by the ear. A young girl that seems younger than the boys, stood behind the woman, like she was hiding behind her, because she held unto the woman's garment.
From the way they were all dressed, with the quality of their attires and ornaments, you could tell they were all of nobility.
"Mother!" The young boy stuttered, totally surprised to see the woman.
"Jia Hao," the beautiful woman called his name.
"So this is where your little hideout is located, you thought I'd never find it." The woman moved towards Jia Hao and held him too by the ear.
"Ouch, mother!" He yelped.
"Instead of the both of you to be attending lectures for yourselves and the greater good, you little troublemakers are out here hiding like cowards!" The woman continued to scold them.
"But mother, the lectures are too boring and torturous." Jia Hao cried.
"All the other grand imperial princes are at Huì fēn, taking these 'boring and torturous lectures', but what both of you could do was hide here, so shameful! I've been hearing of it from your shifus but I just couldn't believe it. If not for imperial princess Li Hua, I wouldn't have discovered this place and confirmed this."
Jia Hao gave the little girl a killer side eye, which made the woman to drag on his ear more. "Ouch, ouch."
"Don't look at her that way, this is for your own good. I don't want to see any of you around this cottage, or I'll burn it to the ground. Now let's go!" The woman concluded and dragged the children along with her as she exited.
The woman instructed one of the court ladies to escort imperial princess Li Hua to her chambers, then she personally took the boys to Huì fēn.
Huì fēn was located in the imperial palace. It was where all royal lectures were taken.
When she got there, she met the head of Huì fēn.
"Both of you should go in now," she said to the boys, which they did.
"I'm so sorry for the inconveniences, shifu Zi Rui. From now on, I'll make sure they won't miss a day of lecture."
Shifu Zi Rui just offered a bow as a response. He was a tall, and stoic man of little words.
Meanwhile, the boys just walked into the hall where the other grand imperial princes were.
"Wow, look who decided to join us today." Jia Hao's brother jesters excitedly.
Yes, Jia Hao's brother from the same mother. Shi Hao, the eldest grand imperial prince.
They were a total of five grand imperial princes. Jia Hao's father, the emperor, married his mother, the empress- The woman who dragged him by the ear today. He married her, and took three other concubines. Not much actually, considering the amount of concubines other emperors have, and have had.
Jia Hao's mother the empress, only gave birth to two sons, him and his brother. The first concubine, imperial concubine Ling Jing has just one son, the second eldest grand imperial prince, Wang Lin. Jing Xuan was born by the second concubine, noble concubine Lin Muwan, two days after the empress had conceived Jia Hao. Then noble concubine Lin Muwan had her second child, Li Hua, the first daughter and imperial princess of their father the emperor.
The third concubine's first child, who's the youngest grand imperial prince, was born on the same year as grand imperial princess Li Hua. Then she also conceived two more children, which were girls.
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