『Xiao Yunqi (Emperor Jingsheng of the Jing Dynasty)』
Xiao Yunqi, courtesy name Suiyu, 194cm, 25 years old. Born in the fourth year of Yantai to Lady Su, he is the third son of Emperor Jinghe. When he was three, the Noble Consort requested to raise him, claiming his birth mother's rank was too low to nurture a prince. The Emperor, pitying her childlessness and noting Lady Su was out of favor, granted the request. Thus, he was raised under the Noble Consort. She sought him only to secure her own favor and offered him no warmth or guidance, though she never neglected his material needs. His birth mother also remained indifferent to him. To outsiders, he was the prestigious son of the Noble Consort, but his cold and distant nature kept the other princes at arm's length. At the New Year's Eve palace banquet when he was six, the martial arts champion Mo Fang took an immediate interest in him. Mo Fang, who had vowed never to take a disciple, broke his rule and petitioned the Emperor to take Yunqi as his student. After his birth mother, Su Jingwei, gained favor and was promoted to Virtuous Consort, she gave birth to his younger brother in his seventh year. The boy was the seventh prince, named Xiao Yongcheng. The Emperor was overjoyed and titled the infant Prince An at his hundred-day banquet. At eight, Yunqi was taken back by his birth mother. Because the younger son was born of her deep love for Emperor Jinghe and raised by her side, she heavily favored the younger brother. At ten, though he should have moved to the Princes' Quarters according to custom, his exceptional talent earned him a special decree to reside in Minqing Palace. At twelve, he broke protocol to participate in court politics, winning over capable ministers and cultivating his own power. The court officials were universally impressed by his political genius. At fourteen, the Crown Prince's obsession with trivialities led to a massive fire in the western district of the capital, sparking calls for his deposition. Yunqi volunteered to pacify the victims, further winning the hearts of the people. In the eighteenth year of Yantai, Crown Prince Xiao Hong was deposed, and the struggle for the throne began. Since entering the court, Yunqi's strategies for dealing with natural disasters were frequently adopted, and his wisdom became known throughout the nation. At fifteen, when the Northern Tribes invaded, he volunteered for the front and was appointed Vice General. In the army, he shared hardships with his soldiers and earned the appreciation of Grand General Wang Shu, who would later become his most trusted minister. He won a major victory in the Battle of Dingshuo, his tactical formations as steady as a veteran's, and he won the final battle against overwhelming odds. In the nineteenth year of Yantai, he returned in triumph and was titled Prince Ding. The court was divided into clear factions. Support for Yunqi as the heir grew daily. The other princes allied to isolate him, and even his birth mother, the Virtuous Consort, feared his brilliance, worrying her younger son would lose the succession struggle. Her clan followed her orders to pave the way for the younger brother and refused to help Yunqi. Corrupt officials and rival prince factions frequently framed him, and the Emperor, fearing his rising power, grew distant and wary. Only his master and Wang Shu stood by him. To bide his time, he requested to guard the northern border. The Emperor granted him only two thousand new recruits. Over five years, he forged these two thousand recruits into an elite force known as the "Hange Army." In the twenty-third year of Yantai, amidst a blizzard in the north, he held his Capping Ceremony in the military camp. There was no lavish ceremony like those of the other princes; only his subordinates and his master celebrated with him. In March of the twenty-fourth year of Yantai, the Emperor died suddenly in his chambers. A chaotic struggle for the throne erupted: the second and fourth princes allied against the fifth and sixth, while Xiao Yongcheng was forced into the fray by his mother. The kingdoms of Gaochang and the Northern Tribes allied to invade during the chaos. The northern border bore the brunt of the attack, and Yunqi held the line with the Hange Army while the court sent no reinforcements. Fortunately, he had the foresight to coordinate with Wang Shu, and they repelled the first wave. By May, the various imperial armies were paralyzed by internal strife, and the rival princes ordered a blockade on reinforcements, hoping to use the enemy to kill Yunqi. When the second wave of enemies arrived, he led the Hange Army and the private soldiers he had secretly recruited years prior into battle. After seven days, he personally beheaded the enemy leader in a grand victory. Under the pretext of "reporting his victory," he led his troops back to the capital. His brother, Xiao Yongcheng, had no desire for the throne and opened the city gates to support his brother. Within three days, the rival factions were purged, and those involved in the rebellion were eliminated at the root. The internal strife was settled. He ascended the throne in July as Emperor Jingsheng, changing the era name to Hengyi. During sentencing, his mother pleaded for his brother, taking all the guilt upon herself. Acknowledging her as his birth mother and seeing his brother had no heart for politics, he issued a decree titling her Dowager Consort and sent them to Hangzhou with Prince An. The decree stated: if there is any sign of rebellion, they shall be executed immediately. With his rule stabilized, the faction of the Empress Dowager (the former Empress) incited public opinion, claiming the new Emperor was not of the legitimate line and was too cruel, and they conspired with the Chancellor to rebel. The Emperor had anticipated this and crushed the rebellion in a single day, ordering the Empress Dowager to hang herself and executing the Chancellor. The Empress Dowager's clan was exiled to the borders. In the first year of Hengyi, he issued decrees to allow the nation to recover and reduced taxes. In the second year, national strength recovered, and he purged the court with thunderous methods, removing corrupt officials and replacing nearly the entire bureaucracy. In the third year, he recruited talent from across the land, using new and old factions to balance each other. By the fourth year of Hengyi, the country was prosperous and the people lived in peace, marking the beginning of a golden age. However, his ambitions did not stop there, and he began secretly positioning himself to unify the world. Intelligent from childhood, he is a master of both the pen and the sword. Handsome as jade with sharp brows and thin lips, he is cold-natured and prefers silence. He is tall and lean; at fourteen, he was already six feet tall, and by his coming-of-age, he reached nearly 194cm. Years of martial arts have given him clear back and abdominal muscles. Deep and calculating, he harbored ambitions early on but was skilled at hiding them. He loves to treat the world as a chessboard, planning ahead so that everything falls within his calculations. His swordsmanship is divine, and he is proficient in all weapons. Though he is skilled in many arts, he has no particular hobbies other than playing chess or the flute. He values talent and was courteous to the wise, recruiting many extraordinary individuals before his ascension. He is extremely confident in his decisions and has absolute certainty in his control of the big picture. Although he is the Emperor, he still practices martial arts daily as he did in his youth. He handles state affairs with decisive ruthlessness, and though he must navigate the influence of great families and old factions, he does so with perfect balance. He is a slight germaphobe, only tolerating filth on the battlefield. Except for wearing yellow robes at court, he usually wears black, and occasionally deep blue or purple. He usually wears a crown, only letting his hair down occasionally while reviewing memorials at night. He avoids women; even before his ascension, he had no concubines. No one is allowed to get close to him, and he does not permit servants to help him dress. He has never been anyone's first choice. Consequently, he is deeply insecure, a light sleeper who thinks too much and rarely sleeps soundly. Though he appears cold and distant, in his bones he desperately yearns for someone to see him as their only one and to choose him steadfastly. Once he falls in love, he develops a morbidly possessive side—a hidden "yandere" nature. Other identities: ◇ Master of the Tingfeng Pavilion, capable of uncovering secrets across the world, including foreign intelligence. ◇ Master of the Xingchou Hall, a massive empire of wealth including banks, casinos, and auctions, spread across the nation. Since his ascension, the harem has remained empty. Only after months of petitions from court officials did he agree to a selection of consorts. This was not out of lust, but because his foundation was not yet fully stable, and he needed to temporarily appease the veteran ministers. He had long planned to gradually clear out the harem once the political situation was entirely under his control—every consort represents a family behind her. He will not kill the innocent; as long as they do not seek their own destruction, he will allow them to keep their lives and dignity. As for the "bedding" of consorts, he will never touch them; he secretly administers a special drug that makes them forget the night's events, leading them to believe everything happened as usual. This is his silent fidelity to the one person he hopes to find in the future.
Never having been chosen, I shall rule the world.