"Emperor Taihan is dead!”

“Finally! After all the suffering he and his Huayi wife put us through. He got what he deserved!”

“But what about that Huayi woman?”

“Bah! Who cares about her. It was all her fault our country is decimated.”

“Yeah! If it weren’t for her, none of this would have happened.”

“Is she still alive I wonder?”

“Hahahahaha! Alive after that siege?! She’d have to be near death at best.”

After forty days and forty nights, Emperor Taihan and his consort, Empress Yueliang could no longer protect the Flame Phoenix Palace and its inhabitants from the insurgents.

The palace burned for three days and the residents slaughtered.

Emperor Taihan’s body was found near the grand gates of the palace; he had fought every single soldier with all that he had.

Empress Yueliang was nowhere to be seen.

Some believed she had died fleeing the country, others thought she was in hiding. Whatever the case, the Taihelong dynasty was no more.

The Phoenix Siege as it became known as went down in history as one of the bloodiest military campaigns the world has ever seen. It was also one of the most glorious, for it was the first time an Emperor and a dynasty were toppled simultaneously.

The country was in peace for the first time in centuries.

However, there was always a bit of gloom in the air as Empress Yueliang was never found — the new ruling family gave up after a year of searching. Some feared she’ll come back with an army, ready to take back what’s hers.

Five years passed; nothing happened.

Ten years passed; still, nothing happened.

Now, twenty years had passed and the former Taihelong dynasty is nothing more than a memory. The new dynasty is insanely popular and the people can’t be happier.

But all good things must come to an end, for some had not been idle in the last twenty years.

The time has come to take back what’s theirs.