The first year of Qingli.
Fang Yuanke united troops from all sides. With the people's wholehearted support, he swept through all resistance and captured the Imperial City, then ascended the throne after his subordinates draped him in the yellow imperial robe.
Newly enthroned, Fang Yuanke had a mountain of work and no time to spare. He and Zhou Yanqing handled important affairs together, gradually bringing stability to the new Dynasty amid the turmoil.
Their benevolent policies benefited many people greatly, and everyone praised the new sovereign as a Benevolent Ruler, Diligent Government and Love for the People.
The two of them were working hard to build a Peace and Prosperity, a peaceful, prosperous age, creating a celebrated tale of ruler and minister.
Aside from this, everyone openly discussed the Imperial Preceptor and the Ninth Prince, Xie Huizhou, who had mysteriously disappeared during the palace coup. Some said they had escaped; others said they had been killed, their bodies consumed by the sea of flames without a trace.
Rumor had it that the ill-fated lovers had long since crossed the sea and gone somewhere unknown to live out their lives.
Some said the Ninth Prince was so debauched that, when his patron fell and no one was left to control him, wickedness arose in his heart, and he abducted the beautiful Imperial Preceptor to do whatever he pleased with him.
There were even rumors that the Imperial Preceptor and the Ninth Prince were unlike ordinary people, that they had come to undergo their heavenly trials and had long since ascended to immortality in broad daylight.
But rather than these baseless claims, people cared more about the recent activities of the Spring Studio Hermit, whose name had lately become famous throughout the Capital City.
Perhaps because the wanted notices had been taken