The spring of Jinghe Year Sixteen was destined to be anything but peaceful for Great Zhou.
That year, beyond Hengshan in the Northwest, Tangut cavalry gathered and scattered, scattered and gathered, stirring the beacon towers along the frontier wall into alarm three times a day.
That year, deep within the palace in the Capital, the Son of Heaven remained secluded, recuperating, while the sixteen-year-old Crown Prince sat as Regent, reading memorials until the third watch.
That year, factional strife at court was like the spring flood: placid on the surface, but already spilling over the embankments beneath.
And their northern neighbor saw all of it.
The Khitan Son of Heaven was young, and supreme power had fallen into the hands of the powerful minister Yelü Yixin.
This man was deeply calculating and had monopolized power for years. Of the veteran ministers at court, some had been killed and others demoted, leaving only a pack of hangers-on who sang his praises all day.
Yet the more he did so, the less peaceful Khitan became within...
Those he had suppressed were not all dead; the power he had seized had not been uprooted.
The "Biography of Yelü Yixin" in the History of Liao recorded: Yixin, courtesy name Hutugan, was a member of the Five Courts Tribe. Clever and shrewd as a child, he grew into a man of handsome bearing. During the Chongxi era, he served as a civil clerk, entrusted with the seal of the Grand Protector.
After Emperor Daozong ascended the throne, he rose through successive promotions to Grand Protector of the Imperial Guard. In Xianyong Year Five, he was further appointed acting Grand Preceptor.
In Dakang Year One, Crown Prince Jun took charge of court affairs. Unable to get his way, Yixin framed the Empress and Crown Prince. His