The blood-soaked Royal Domain

The Grand Steward, the Grand Clan Head, the Former King, and the Former Queen had passed away, plunging all of Luoyi into grief. Just when everyone thought Crown Prince Jin would inherit the throne and open a new chapter for the Zhou State, disaster struck.

Prince An invited Crown Prince Jin to visit his palace. Naturally, Crown Prince Jin never suspected the brother he had always been close to. Yet Prince An had planted armed executioners at the banquet and decisively, brutally murdered his elder brother.

Afterward, he led a force that had already pledged its loyalty to him in a frenzy of slaughter through the Royal Palace, wiping out the entire Close Royal House Lineage.

That night, the whole Royal Domain lay shrouded in blood.

Under the protection of elite troops from Chu State, Queen Chu Mi fled overnight toward Chu State.

Only the following day did the liaison envoys stationed in Luoyi by the lords of the four quarters learn the news. They hurried to report this earth-shattering upheaval home, while the entire Royal City trembled beneath Prince An's butcher's blade.

Prince An was no murderous maniac, however. Every person he killed served a political purpose, so the envoys soon received his assurances and gradually set their minds at ease.

Luo Ren received the news while on his way to Luoyi.

"My lord, word has arrived from Haojing City. Prince An launched a coup, murdering Crown Prince Jin and every member of the Close Royal House Lineage. According to the reports, he is the only member of the Royal House left within three generations.

"Queen Chu Mi has fled toward Chu State under the protection of its elite troops. Luoyi is now under Prince An's control."

The news struck Luo Ren like a thunderbolt, leaving him rooted to the spot. His lips trembled slightly, as though he wanted to say something.

"Pff!"

Bright red blood sprayed from his mouth. Rage assaulted his heart, and Luo Ren fainted on the spot. His close attendants hurriedly shook him awake. When he slowly came around, tears already covered his face.

"Sage King! Is Heaven determined to destroy our Zhou State? Luo State made so many sacrifices, only to receive an ending like this! I cannot accept it!"

A moment earlier, he had been imagining another twenty years of building strength, then leading the combined armies of Jin, Chu, Qi, Luo, Zheng, and Ying, coordinating with Qin State to drive out the Western Rong occupying the Ancestral Temple and complete the great restoration.

Then, in the next instant, this devastating news arrived. Prince An had acted swiftly, without a clash between rival forces, so the Royal Domain had lost little strength. Yet he had utterly destroyed the legal legitimacy that mattered most to the Son of Heaven.

Which lord under Heaven would submit to him?

Without prestige, he could not mobilize the lords. What idle fantasy was it to speak of returning to the ancestral lands?

The fortunes of the Zhou State would inevitably decline, and that filled Luo Ren with dread.

Luo State's fate was bound to the Zhou State's. If the Zhou State fell, Luo State would perish. His hoarse voice was filled with bitter refusal.

No one could have imagined that Ji Fu, overwhelmed by grief and worn down by arranging Luo Cheng's funeral and its aftermath, would fall ill and actually forget this matter.

Perhaps, deep in his heart, he had not wanted to kill his own son over an unfounded suspicion either.

"My lord, what should we do now? Are we still going to Luoyi?" asked a household retainer who had accompanied Luo Ren, somewhat at a loss.

Luo Ren slammed his hand against the carriage frame and said in anguish, "Prince An is a traitor who murdered his brother to seize the throne, a man who trampled lineage law and possesses not a shred of virtue. How could I possibly assist him?"

"Then shall we march against him?"

Luo Ren paused, then said bitterly, "The Former King had only these two sons, and he himself had no brothers. Prince An has also slaughtered every close relative of the Royal House. Even if we execute him, whom could we put on the throne?

"This prince dared to commit such an inhuman act because he understands the Luo Clan's ways all too well. That is the source of his fearless confidence.

"He killed everyone in the Royal House who could inherit the throne. There is nothing I can do now. Let us return to Luo State."

Luo Ren was right. Prince An knew perfectly well that most lords under Heaven put their interests first. Only Luo State, with its great prestige, placed lineage law and order above other concerns.

Yet although the Luo Clan upheld lineage law, the survival of the Zhou State's realm took even higher priority. So long as he bound that survival to himself, he would stand undefeated.

Reality unfolded exactly as he had expected. Luo State did not act against him.

"My lord, Prince An has trampled lineage law. If we make no response, I fear we will have no answer to give."

After this incident, everyone under Heaven would watch Luo State's response. If it truly did nothing, would that not tell the world that lineage law was a joke?

Luo Ren waved his hand feebly and said, "I will never come to the Royal Domain again. Condemn Prince An in the sternest terms, and stop Luo State's tribute to the Royal House as well.

"Spread the word: Luo State will not pay homage to Zhou for a hundred years.

"From now on, focus on developing Luo State. The Royal House is a puddle of rotten mud. There is no hope of relying on them to hold the great banner aloft."

After speaking with weary disheartenment, Luo Ren began instructing his retainers to write to the lords of the four quarters. "First, send them a letter saying that my virtue is shallow and my ability insufficient to serve as a minister to the Son of Heaven. Therefore, I will not take up office in Luoyi, in the Royal Domain, and ask the Son of Heaven to choose someone else.

"In the second letter, fiercely condemn Prince An for murdering his elder brother and declare that Luo State will send no tribute to the Royal Domain for a hundred years."

As for not avenging the Crown Prince, the justification was perfectly aboveboard.

Although people often said that an heir apparent was also a sovereign, that was merely an expression of respect. Procedurally, Crown Prince Jin had indeed not yet become a sovereign.

Since he was not a sovereign, the lords had no obligation to avenge him.

Besides, Prince An was truly ruthless. He had killed every royal who might threaten his throne. Even the Marquis of Luo had to hold his nose and acknowledge this king.

The retainers thought the two letters brilliantly devised, with no adverse consequences for Luo State. They did not understand Luo Ren's feelings at all.

Many felt there was no need to help the Royal House to such an extent, but the Luo Clan had no choice. This had been confirmed repeatedly with their ancestor in the ancestral temple.

Though their ancestor had spoken vaguely, a deep shadow hung over every head of the Luo Clan. The Zhou State was different. It was the dynasty under which the Luo Clan had risen, and the depth of their entangled karma was unimaginable. To cast it aside like a worn-out shoe was nothing but a dream.

After all these years, they had finally managed to revive the Zhou State's fortunes a little. The royal armies were gradually recovering their strength, and perhaps they could even fight their way straight back to the ancestral lands at Haojing.

Now Prince An had destroyed it all. In his despair, Luo Ren even felt that the Zhou State's mandate of Heaven was beyond saving. He only hoped it could endure a little longer.

Luo State's strength had recovered well, but the vast number of Ducal Clan members sacrificed could not be replaced in a short time. Luo Ren felt he now had to focus on domestic affairs.

The news soon spread through the various states, and each of the Marquisate States responded differently.

Jin State and Qi State denounced Prince An almost simultaneously. Though their ties to the Zhou State were not as strong as Luo State's, they too had benefited from the Royal House.

After seeing Luo Ren's response and giving it some thought, they understood his concerns. Following a period of silence, both rulers chose the same course as Luo State.

First they condemned him, then immediately halted their tribute to the Royal House.

Although the Royal House's still considerable strength deterred them from refusing to recognize Prince An's throne, they clearly had no intention of having any dealings with him.

When Qin State received word that Luo State would no longer pay homage to Zhou, Count of Qin Zao Fei wore a strange expression. He felt both sorrowful and pleased.

Luo Cheng and the Son of Heaven had been Qin State's benefactors. The support of that ruler and minister had contributed immensely to Qin State's development over the years.

Yet it had also been a profound restraint, like the string tethering a kite.

Moreover, the Luo Clan had always wanted to return to the ancestral lands, which conflicted with Zao Fei's vision for Qin State's future. He had long wanted to withhold Haojing City's output in particular, but had never dared before.

"Do not allow anyone from the Royal House through Hangu Pass. Halt Haojing City's annual tribute. Consider that repayment for the Former King's kindness to Qin State."

After saying this, Zao Fei walked out of the hall with his eldest legitimate son beside him. Gazing up at the vast sky, he could not help laughing aloud.

"Wen Yun, Heaven means to bestow this land upon us! After I die, you must continue leading the people of Qin in opening up this land.

"Duke Xuan once said that the Zhou People had lost this land. Who would have thought his words would become a prophecy? Now this land will belong to the people of Qin."

In Ying State of Ying, where Luo Cheng's younger brother Luo Zhongshu had been enfeoffed, his reaction was almost identical to Luo Ren's. First, he spat blood in fury, but then he quickly came to his senses.

Chu State would probably march north. As one of the Royal House's shields, he felt torn over whether to send troops to help it.

These states at least remained relatively calm. Following Luo State's lead, they merely gave the matter a cold shoulder.

Chu State, however, could not remain calm. The Crown Prince who carried Chu blood had been on the verge of ascending the throne, only to be murdered outright.

Decades of investment had been poured down the drain. How could they not be furious?

Not only the King of Chu, but almost every minister of Chu State was beside himself.

Over the years, apart from taking a few cities from Shen State and Sui State, Chu State had refrained from attacking these Ji states along the Han River. Instead, it had expanded southeast into the Huai Yi regions.

They had been waiting for Crown Prince Jin to take the throne and begin securing benefits for Chu State. Now, suddenly, he was gone.

Who could swallow such an insult?

Chu State's leadership unanimously approved the decision to raise an army with unprecedented speed, without hesitation or delay.

As for Luo Yan's opinion?

He was the first to propose attacking Zhou!

Members of the Luo Clan had always understood where their loyalties lay.

The reason Luo Ren turned straight back instead of killing Prince An to avenge Crown Prince Jin was simple.

Crown Prince Jin had not yet become king, while he was already the Marquis of Luo. There was therefore no direct relationship of sovereign and subject between them.

The same logic applied to Luo Yan. He was now a minister of Chu, and Chu State had suffered an enormous loss in this affair. Moreover, he had been the one to make promises to Chu State on behalf of the Royal House.

The King of Chu had not blamed him in the slightest, which was already an immense expression of grace and trust.

He therefore had to make his position clear.

Though he knew the campaign would achieve little, the Royal House had recovered its strength quite well over the years. Even after Prince An's coup, it could cope perfectly well so long as the lords of the entire realm did not rise against it together.

In terms of talent for becoming King, Prince An was indeed stronger than his elder brother. At the very least, this coup had been swift, precise, and ruthless.

The Han River Ji States reacted in precisely the opposite way to Chu State.

In fact, they had begun to panic from the moment Chu State allied with the Royal House.

After all, these states had been established to guard the Royal House against Chu State. Now they were suddenly being told that the enemy across the border had become its ally.

Had the Royal House not been so powerful, these lords would have fallen apart.

Over the years, Marquis Shen and the others had endured constant torment, forever fearing that the Royal House would stab them in the back and use them to curry favor with Chu State.

This had left Marquis Shen, the Marquis of Sui, and the Marquis of Tang deeply dissatisfied with the Royal House.

Although the Royal House had shown no such intentions in twenty years, and the Luo Clan controlled the overall situation within the Royal Domain, this had not put their minds at ease.

After all, the new Son of Heaven would be the Marquis of Chu's maternal grandson. He would surely favor Chu State.

If the queen then filled his head with certain ideas, these three lords bordering Chu State would surely suffer grievous losses.

They had never expected Prince An to murder the Crown Prince outright, instantly freeing them from their fears for the future.

Whatever the other lords thought, Marquis Shen, the Marquis of Sui, and the Marquis of Tang were overjoyed. They sent ministers with great quantities of tribute to Luoyi in the Royal Domain to recognize Prince An's throne.

There were quite a few such lords under Heaven. In particular, those who had gained too little in the previous distribution of benefits all hoped to gain more with a new king's accession.

Faced with the complicated situation and Luo State's private expression of its position, the other Marquisate States, apart from Chu State, lowered their banners and stilled their drums, making no further outcry.

Yet many realized that someone who trampled the Lineage System could actually become king, and that realization stirred ambitions in countless hearts.

With the Marquis of Luo no longer serving as a minister to the Son of Heaven, the Marquis of Zheng keenly sensed an excellent opportunity.

Zheng State was the largest Ji lord's state near Luoyi, and it also carried considerable weight among the states of All Xia.

If he went to Luoyi now to support Prince An, then, repaying peaches with plums, Prince An would surely reward him with power.

Although Luo State no longer paid homage to Zhou, from what the Marquis of Zheng knew of its ways,

it would surely tacitly accept Prince An's throne in the end. If he could become Chief Minister, he would certainly secure countless benefits for Zheng State.

Although he could not attain Luo State's transcendent position, the Royal Domain had amassed considerable wealth during Luo Cheng's administration. It would be enormously useful in expanding Zheng State's strength and influence.

Across the states of All Xia, Jin State, Qi State, and Luo State remained silent; Chu State raised an army in fury; Zheng State sided with Luoyi; Song State and Chen State watched for an opportunity; Qin State and Fei State were still fighting bloody battles against the Rong People; and a host of small states lived in constant dread.

This strange atmosphere, oppressive as wind filling a tower before a mountain storm, enveloped the entire realm.

In its account of the "blood-soaked Royal Domain," the Official Histories of the Zhou Dynasty attributed Crown Prince Jin of Dai's death to overwhelming grief after King Yi's passing, which ultimately led to King Xi's accession.

Yet this attempt to hoodwink the public was far too crude. Thanks to the Luo Clan Imperial Family's preservation of historical records, we can see that the histories of many Marquisate States explicitly recorded, "An murdered Crown Prince Jin."

This use of his personal name, refusing to conceal an offense out of deference to the exalted, demonstrates that King Xi's actions gravely challenged the moral limits of his time.

Beginning with King Xi's murder of his elder brother, the entire history of the Spring and Autumn period lay beneath the shadow of assassination. Even a rough count reveals over a hundred named lords who died through assassination or outright regicide. History slid inexorably into the abyss of shattered rites and ruined music.

Of course, the gravest consequence of this affair was Luo State's refusal to pay homage to Zhou. This dealt a heavy blow to the Zhou Dynasty's rule, and the subsequent declarations of the various lords demonstrated one thing.

Once the Rites of Zhou compelled Luo State to sever diplomatic relations with the Zhou Royal House, the entire system sustaining the Royal House's rule would collapse in an instant.

This also confirms my view: the so-called King Yi's Restoration, which historians discuss with such relish, was like a castle built upon sand-nothing more than a dying flare of vitality purchased with Luo State's blood. -"The rise and fall of the Zhou Dynasty"

The Spring and Autumn period's most classic spectacle of regicide had begun. Over the next three hundred years, more than a hundred rulers would likely die at the hands of their ministers or members of their ruling houses.