Winter passed, and spring came.
Summer cicadas sang into autumn.
Ten years went by in the blink of an eye.
The Great Song Imperial Guard crossed mountains and valleys to reach the Western Regions. Led by Yue Qiu, Zhao Qingyu, and others, they defeated the Black Khanate and secured the right to shape the Western Regions' cultural heritage for centuries to come. The splendor of Han culture spread once more beyond the western reaches of the Western Regions.
Cao Bin died during the campaign against the Black Khanate.
His coffin returned to Bianjing, where the emperor personally led the civil and military officials to receive it outside the palace gates!
Zhao Heng suspended court for three days.
The Northern Frontier.
Great Song's relentless investment over more than a decade had finally crushed the Khitan.
Without the Sixteen Prefectures of You and Yun, the Khitan could never have endured a war of attrition against Great Song on the strength of the grasslands and Liaodong alone.
Yelü Longxu, emperor of the Liao Dynasty, sent envoys to seek peace.
He renounced the imperial title, styled himself King of Liao, and asked Great Song to cease its attacks.
Dali in the south also requested annexation.
Bianjing, inside the palace.
Dressed in a long Daoist robe and a heavy cloak, Zhao Heng stood beneath the eaves and gazed at a distant Evergreen Tree. Only after a long while did he let out a deep sigh.
Snow drifted down from the sky, as though echoing Zhao Heng's sigh.
"Why so glum, Your Majesty?"
Behind Zhao Heng, two Palace Concubines in brocade approached.
The younger one held the hand of a child about three years old.
Zhao Heng turned at the question.
The sight of the three of them changed his expression, and he hurried over.
"Oh,