PART I: The Foundation of the United Empire
The Divine Frostbreath Empire was also privately referred to as the "United Empire" by the various races and principalities within its vast domain. This name stemmed not merely from its immense size, but from its unique political core—an imperial structure where six great vassal states, each with ancient traditions and semi-independent authority, constantly coexisted, surrounding and supporting the Emperor's central rule.
These six great states were known in the Empire's historical records and star charts by names charged with power and symbolism: Dragon Fang, Tiger Wing, Raven, Silver Wolf, Bronze Sparrow, and Black Sheep .
Their rulers were titled "National Lord" or "Elector Duke", and they were not only the rulers of their respective territories but also held the supreme authority known as the Elector Kingship. Whenever the Imperial Throne was vacant, the power to determine the next Emperor of the Divine Frostbreath Empire rested in the hands of these six Dukes.
This peculiar political architecture, which in some eras even shone with enlightened brilliance, traced its origins back to the Empire's founder—the immortal legend known to posterity as the "Conquering Emperor," Dipper Kui. From his time onward, the system of co-governance between the Imperial authority and the six Elector Dukes has functioned like the heartbeat and breathing of the Empire, enduring twenty-five generations of succession to this day.
The ancient epic of the nation's founding is sung across generations by every minstrel in the Empire: the ancestors of the Frostbreath people once roamed the boundless snowy forests of the continent's northeast corner. They were herdsmen and hunters, and they often swept south like the bitter wind, invading the fertile agrarian states, looting grain, silk, and even people.
However, approximately five hundred years ago, a paramount leader emerged among the Southern states. He not only unified the Central Plains but also led a massive Northern Expedition, striking directly into the heart of the Frostbreath people. In the ensuing continuous warfare, though the Frostbreath ancestors fought bravely and won many victories, they were ultimately unable to withstand the Southern Empire's enormous national power and resources.
Their chieftain was killed, their homeland fell, and the entire tribe was forced to abandon their homes and embark on a long westward exile. They fought and searched all the way, pushing west and ever west, toward the legendary "New Land Where the Sun Sets," chasing a phantom that was both distant and irresistibly alluring.
During the arduous migration, the tribe split. One branch chose to continue west, vanishing beyond the distant horizon. The other branch—the direct ancestors of the current Imperial House—was guided by a great prophet and resolutely turned north, determined to cross the towering, snow-capped mountain range that spanned the world. It was a journey paved with blood, tears, white bones, and indomitable will.
Countless kinsmen were either swallowed by raging avalanches or plunged into bottomless glacial crevasses. This grueling trek, which lasted a full decade, was filled with"courage and suffering" beyond mortal imagination, forming the most tragic and moving first half of the Empire's founding legend, which still shines brightly in the murals and songs of Prime Lake City.
Finally, they found the promised land—a vast, almost boundless basin encircled by ten-thousand-year-old snow-capped mountains. In the center of the basin lay a giant, misty lake; it was more accurately described as an "inland sea." This body of water, later named Lake Dipper after the Imperial surname, spanned nearly 400 kilometers east-to-west and 160 kilometers north-to-south, dotted with over two hundred islands of various sizes.
The lake was deep and bountiful. A single cast of the net could bring up massive salmon, stout as a child, their scales flashing with a seven-colored sheen in the sun. Although the winters here were devastatingly cold and long, the brief summers brought continuous sunshine, melting ice and snow, and the fertile black soil erupted with astonishing vitality, causing crops to surge with unprecedented growth speed.
The Frostbreath people had finally found their longed-for home. They renamed the land after their tribe, swearing to multiply and thrive here for all eternity. The system of co-leadership by several major families, which had formed during the tribe's migration, naturally persisted after settlement.
But peace and order did not last long.
PART II: The Legacy of Dipper Kui
A young man named Dipper Kui was driven to rebellion by what he saw as an "unjust" ruling—his half-brothers had seized the land and power that should have been his. Following a fierce dispute, he killed those brothers and was convicted of high treason, sentenced to death by stoning. But, like a savage beast breaking free from its cage, he successfully escaped from prison and embarked on the path to overthrow the old order.
In his most isolated moments, six former close friends offered him aid. Relying on the wisdom, valor, and steadfast support of these six men, Dipper Kui fought over forty brutally fierce battles in the ensuing years, achieving victory after victory. Historical records note that his relentless struggle "caused his blades to thicken by a full measure due to congealed blood."
Ultimately, the old tribal power structure was completely destroyed, and all authority over the Frostbreath lands fell into Dipper Kui's hands. However, the prolonged civil war had halved the tribe's population, and countless towns and villages were reduced to scorched earth. Dipper Kui did not linger in victory. He abolished the ancient title of "Chieftain," proclaimed himself "King," and immediately led armies south and east, forcing the ancient enemy, the Snow Wolf Kingdom, into submission (though this submission was never truly stable). He established a vast sphere of influence that far exceeded that of his ancestors, and finally, he placed the "Emperor's" crown—the symbol of supreme power—upon his own head.
Once his power was secured, Dipper Kui did not forget the six comrades who had given him everything during his most difficult times. To reward their meritorious service and to construct a governance structure that was both mutually checked and centrally supported, he carried out an unprecedented Grand Enfeoffment. Of the Empire's one hundred and twenty counties, he bestowed sixty counties of land upon these six meritorious officials, ten counties each, establishing six great Duchies (or Kingdoms). He granted them independent rights over internal affairs, taxation, conscription, jurisdiction, and even partial legislation within their territories.
The Emperor retained direct governance over the remaining sixty counties. In Dipper Kui's clever design, the borders of these six Duchies rarely touched, often separated by Imperial-controlled territories, which prevented them from easily forming an alliance to threaten the center.
Thus, a balanced, yet subtly turbulent, system of Imperial election was born.
The coexistence and checks and balances between the Emperor and the six Elector Dukes became the invisible cornerstone supporting the Divine Frostbreath Empire for nearly three centuries. To further cement this alliance, based on personal trust and political strategy, Dipper Kui also employed clever marriage policies, widely injecting the Imperial bloodline into the six ducal families. Theoretically, the Empire and the Duchies, the Imperial House and the Ducal families, became a community of shared destiny, bound to support each other for the Empire's prosperity.
However, just as all things succumb to the erosion of time, so too does power. As the years passed, heroes grew old, and covenants grew dusty, the system built upon personal trust began to slowly decay and deform under the pressures of human greed, suspicion, and ambition.
From the Conquering Emperor Dipper Kui to the present day, twenty-five generations of monarchs have passed. Now, the throne belonged to the gloomy and paranoid Dipper Huang. Over these three long centuries, the foundation of power supporting the Empire's massive structure had become riddled with conflict and cracks. The Emperors sought to diminish the Dukes' power and centralize control, while the Elector Dukes' council continuously resisted Imperial expansion, even deliberately selecting mediocre or foolish heirs to the throne on more than one occasion to counterbalance overly powerful Emperors. The Imperial House also repeatedly interfered coarsely with the internal succession of the ducal families, sowing countless seeds of hatred.
After this endless cycle of conflict, compromise, betrayal, and integration, the final outcome was the sudden death of Emperor Dipper Huang—regardless of the truth hidden behind that "sudden death."
PART III: The Three-vs-Two Stalemate
"The Late Emperor is gone. Who will next ascend the supreme throne of the Divine Frostbreath Empire?"
After the brief, ritualized period of mourning, the eyes of everyone—from the nobles inside and outside the court, to the governors in distant borderlands, and especially the six Elector Dukes who held the decisive votes—quickly and intensely focused on this single crucial question. After all, for the dead, a few tears and symbolic wreaths were enough to relegate them to the dust of history. The present and the future always belong to the living.
Who, ultimately, could win that heavy and tempting crown?
Based on Imperial law and the current political reality, there were ostensibly only two candidates eligible to inherit the throne:
First, Han Aureus Duke Dipper Aureus, the Late Emperor Dipper Huang's only surviving son, who had just returned bloodied from the front line, holding immense military merit and authority.
Second, Imperial Grandson Dipper Qian, the Late Emperor Dipper Huang's only legitimate grandson, the only son of the deceased Eldest Prince, and merely eight years old.
The young uncle versus the young nephew.
The eight-year-old Dipper Qian was naturally incapable of understanding or being responsible for state affairs. But he held an undeniable legal advantage—he was the eldest grandson of the main branch. In the eyes of many nobles and officials who adhered to ancient traditions, this itself represented a form of legitimacy.
More ironically, his tender age became a major "advantage" for his succession. A child emperor of eight meant that the substantial power of the Empire would inevitably fall into the hands of his guardian for at least the next decade.
The faction coveting this "guardianship" was already clear: Grand Princess Consort Su Wan (who should now be referred to as the Grand Empress Dowager), the child's ambitious mother, and her tremendously powerful father, the Duke Dingguo, Su Wang.
The ambition of this father-daughter pair—to control the young ruler and thereby the entire Empire—was so blatant and undisguised that a common saying circulated in the court: "Even the curly-haired cat in the Imperial Garden sees this clearly."
However, regardless of legal legitimacy or powerful backers, anyone who wished to ultimately wear the crown had to pass one iron rule: securing at least four votes from the six Elector Dukes.
Imperial Royal Law explicitly stipulated:
"He who does not obtain the support of four of the six Elector Dukes shall not ascend the Imperial Throne."
Six Dukes, with four votes constituting an absolute majority. This seemingly clear rule had historically led to several three-to-three deadlocks. While past confrontations were mostly resolved through political maneuvering and backroom deals, no one could guarantee that this time would not devolve into a protracted struggle, potentially tearing the Empire apart.
The fate of the Empire now hung by a thread. The weights that would determine the final tilt of the scale were held in the hands of those six Elector Dukes—especially the young Raven Lord, Mont Mentiel, who had just engaged in a silent confrontation with Dipper Aureus outside the bedchamber.
Mont Mentiel harbored no personal hatred toward Dipper Aureus. In fact, his inner thoughts aligned with the Duke: the old Emperor deserved to die, and Dipper Aureus's act of regicide was not a wicked deed, but a great action to save the Empire. As Dipper Aureus's rival and confidant during their student days, Mont Mentiel was emotionally inclined to see Dipper Aureus become the new Emperor. This was not just a matter of personal affinity but also one of cold, hard calculation based on reality.
Of the six Elector Dukes, five had already arrived at the capital; only the Tiger's Wing Lord was missing from Prime Lake City, though this did not preclude the Elector Kings' Council from convening.
The situation was straightforward: three votes to two. The Lords of Dragon's Tooth, Silver Wolf, and Bronze Sparrow stood with Imperial Grandson Dipper Qian. Duke Dingguo Su Wang was fully supporting his own grandson, and although he held no fiefdom, his massive financial resources were the best possible backing. Through strategic deployment of wealth, Su Wang had long established dense intelligence and commercial networks within the six fiefdoms and had naturally bought off many supporters. With three votes secured and the Tiger's Wing Lord expected to ultimately support his grandson, Su Wang was confident that this Elector Kings' Council would be a mere formality, quickly concluding the matter.
Standing with Dipper Aureus were only the Raven Lord and the Black Sheep Lord. Black Sheep Lord Cheng Mubei was three years older than Mont Mentiel, twenty-nine years old and in his vigorous prime. He scoffed at Su Wang's merchant-like practice of purchasing power with money. His reason for choosing Dipper Aureus was similar to Mont Mentiel's: he believed that only by maintaining a divided Elector Kings' Council would he, holding a critical vote, maximize his space and means for extracting benefits. If the matter were decided too quickly, he would gain nothing from the Dipper Qian camp. By maintaining the deadlock, he maximized his leverage.
The incoming Tiger's Wing Lord, Wu Lie, thirty-three years old, had not yet publicly declared his stance. If the Black Sheep and Raven Lords held firm, they were confident they could use similar reasoning to bring the fellow "Young Faction" member Wu Lie into their fold.
However, an urgent dispatch arrived at Prime Lake City at maximum speed, delivered to the Elector Kings' Council in the most secret fashion:
"Tiger Wing Lord Wu Lie, Deceased. Aged Thirty-Three."
The news struck like a lightning bolt from a clear sky!
The Iron Law of Imperial Election: Four votes are required for the Emperor to ascend.
The Law of Elector Dukes: The succession of an Elector Duke requires the recognition of the Emperor, otherwise it is invalid.
Now, one Elector Duke was dead. The Elector Kings' Council stood at three-to-two!
"This era is truly fascinating."
Mont Mentiel would be laughing in his sleep.
END OF 1-5