The resignation of the Emperor to follow enlightenment in a monastery has shocked the royal court. The man woke up in cold sweat one night, shouting epiphany at the top of his lungs. A prophecy had been revealed to him and in order to maintain the prosperity and balance of the country, the Emperor said it had to be done. Along with entering the temple, the King commanded a series of strange orders that needed to be exacted to protect the Empire from harm. No one except the Emperor’s closest knows what it was that he had asked to be done. Not wanting the peasants to riot or question the sanity of the ruling government, the court has kept the details hidden in secrecy.

The Emperor’s 6 sons have stepped in to take responsibility of the sudden decision. Unlike princes of other countries, despite being born of different mothers, the brothers held a relationship bounded in loyalty and mutual respect and thus, animosity did not override their senses. Each prince split the affairs of the nation and occupied their time to overlook their respective proceedings.

The Eldest, Xiumin attended to diplomatic relations. Like the 4^th brother, Xiumin’s mother was a princess from the Distant Fields, offered to the Emperor to foster good relationships between the two nations. He had a natural flair for looking after the well-being of others due to his status as the eldest and possessed a flowered temperance; never once had the younger ones seen him angry.

The second brother, Luhan provided for the arts as the cultured one. A great scholar once commented that aspiring nations were stabled through the influence of the arts, the nurturing of culture and the promoting of cultural capital. He often visited Opera bars and sat with his fan and tea, enjoying the flamboyant displays of the actors. He painted often and studied calligraphy with the monks in the monastery. With his demure and refined aura (the other brothers sometimes chided that he looked like a girl, which he took as a compliment) he overlooked the street performers held competitions, much like the entrance exams to promote young talent.

The third eldest, Wufan promoted pastoral and political care – he looked after the government, the taxes and the people; he maintained the visual, the image that all was well. He had been sent abroad to the Western empires in his youth to explore and learn from the traditions they held there by his Father. As a result, he learns a variety of languages and held a charismatic and suave air of authority to his figure. Also, from his adventures, he gained his foreign name to which many of his siblings refer: Kris.

The middle brother, 4^th eldest, second youngest was a man of multiple talents. YiXing was the erratic one, always in the onslaught of a revolution and dallied himself with strategic planning, building bridges, buying and selling horses and what not. He played various instruments, the lute being his favourite and travelled across the nation to hear out the woes of those too far to be heard. Being in the middle, his childhood was mediocre as his status was not high or low enough to be of merit and to some extent he felt displaced. He played Weiqi (Go) and was much about establishment – making a presence of himself. He supported the rest of the brothers and preferred to be reserved and act behind-the scenes. The courtesans would often see him walking around the grounds with his robes fastened incorrectly, looking into the sky as if it were a crater, about to fall. His current project, after building damns and correcting the storage system in preparation of a drought, is working on widening the bridge to the market area as he noticed the commoners struggle to cart their goods in the narrow cobblestone.

The second youngest, Chen was also the brightest. He pioneered the education department and ran the annual entrance examinations, founded by the dynastical predecessors. All the Princes were schooled from a young age and taught all the knowledge in the world to aid their future roles in authority, but they were not required to take the exams where the commoners laboured to be allowed a spot in among the politics. At the age of 11, Chen opted to try the test and passed with flying colours. This brother liked order, structure and unlike YiXing, who was quiet in a cultured way, Chen was quiet because he thought there was nothing worthy to be said.

Finally, the youngest Tao, adored by all his older brothers coveted the area of battle. Having learnt the art of Kung Fu as a child, it was only fitting he be in charge of conquest. The nation had not partaken in battle since the last Great Migration where lack of food caused populations to shift and fluctuate and nations conflicted over priority. As a result of the country’s relations however, many alliances were pledged and battles conducted as favour to other nations. Tao adored his troop of purebred stallions, always cleaning their stables and feeding them more than they needed. Despite Tao’s cold appearance, he is the most emotional – which is ironic as his duty is combat and easily succumbs to feeling.