Over the past few years, the Funan Kingdom had fallen into a peculiar vicious cycle.
Regicide played out again and again, with practically no peaceful transitions of power.
The monarch who had once sent envoys to the Wu Kingdom was named Fan Zhan. He was the nephew of Fan Man, king of Funan, and had more than two thousand men under his command.
And so he usurped his maternal uncle's domain, proclaimed himself king, then deceived Crown Prince Jin Sheng and forced him to commit suicide.
The old king had a younger son named Fan Chang, who escaped during the usurpation and hid among the common people. Later, he gathered warriors in rebellion, killed his cousin Fan Zhan in a surprise attack, and proclaimed himself king.
The current monarch was named Fan Xun.
He had been Fan Zhan's general. After Fan Chang killed his former monarch, he sent out troops, finished off Fan Chang, and once again proclaimed himself king.
In just over a decade, the Funan Kingdom's government had been in turmoil, and the throne had changed hands repeatedly.
This had caused repeated unrest within the country, and even now, the chaos had not entirely ended.
When Wei's great ships appeared near the Funan Kingdom, the generals swiftly reported the news to their current monarch, Fan Xun.
Fan Xun was rather different from the previous monarchs.
Not because he was particularly benevolent or righteous, but because he was more ruthless in what he did.
He had killed the previous monarchs' heirs and trusted aides and fed them all to the fish. He spared not even the children who had yet to grow up, killing every last one to cut off future troubles at the root.
But he was not a monarch capable only of brutality. Though merciless in settling