In the 186th year of the Ruen Dynasty, a great flood swept through Qizhou, destroying countless homes and displacing the people. Banditry and unrest surged through the region as a result.0

Chen Kaiming had been on the imperial throne for eighteen years when that happened. He was thirty-nine and in the prime of his life.0

Two months after the Qizhou was flooded, Chen Kaiming personally set out to inspect the affected area, and stayed for five days before he returned to the imperial capital.0

On the day Chen Kaiming returned to Tianjing, his dragon carriage entered through the capital's main gate and proceeded down a broad avenue leading directly to the Imperial City. People filled the streets, squeezing together shoulder to shoulder to welcome him. The noise of the crowd was thunderous, as if his return...0