Chapter 1: the ballad of eternal glory

永華歌

In the capital of Luoyang, the daughters of the Grand Chancellor Shangguan An each await their own glorious destinies. And by their side is their cousin, Fei Minxi, who observes the machinations of the nobles of the Dan Dynasty and the different fates of the three Shangguan daughters.

—

IT IS A plot that brings Fei Minxi to the imperial capital of Luoyang, into the arms of her proud and magnificent cousins. The Shangguan sisters are the staple of Luoyang's high society, the daughters of the dynasty's Grand Chancellor. No one shines as brightly as they. And by standing with them, Minxi is thrust into a world she is not prepared for, that she was never taught to be a part of.

The sisters are all fascinating in their own rights. The eldest is Shangguan Yunhua, promised to be the future Empress since birth. The second, Shangguan Yunjun, a girl not of the courts but of the battlefield, the youngest female general of the dynasty. And the youngest, Shangguan Yunxuan, the picture of the perfect lady, the envy of all despite being the daughter of a concubine.

And so Minxi watches. As she watches the battle of the heirs, watches Yunhua become the wife of the heir and then their Empress. Watches the Shangguan family claws their way to the top, as it all splinters apart.

This is a story of glory, and how one family attempts to leave their name in the long river of history.

—

FEI MINXI

斐敏曦

SHANGGUAN YUNHUA

上官允華

SHANGGUAN YUNJUN

上官允君

SHANGGUAN YUNXUAN

上官允萱

YUAN CHIQIAN

袁赤謙

YUAN YINQI

袁胤祺

HUO MURONG

霍慕榮

LUO XUEYING

洛雪迎

—

author's note

omg i am actually SO excited for y'all to read this story. as you know i love love love writing about chinese culture and characters, and despite having sort of explored chinese history in the silk and steel chronicles, it's hardly the most accurate thing ever. this is where the ballad of eternal glory comes along! while it is still 架空 (jiakong), and is basically just an au of a nonexistent chinese dynasty, this will be a bit more accurate to actual chinese history and is loosely based off the story of the dugu sisters. more accurate details involve the general time period (this is sort of tang/ming ish dynasty style??), the role of women (a topic deeply explored) and just the entire worldbuilding in general.

the story is set in luoyang, the real life former capital of multiple chinese dynasties throughout history, which our main character has just travelled to at the beginning of the story. unlike my other novels which focus on a shorter span of time, this novel covers way longer. in fact, it covers the entirety of minxi's life, and through her eyes her cousins and peers. minxi is fourteen at the start of the novel, and sixty-seven by the end. thus, this is also expected to be longer than my usual 90,000-100,000 novels. at the time of writing this a/n i'm only around halfway through my writing and the word count is already on the brink of hitting 80k. so this is long.

this book also lets me do something i really really enjoy, which is sort of writing from a perspective of a character who's involved in the central plot, but at the same time somewhat of a bystander. i think it lets me sort of provide a more whole view of the things i portray and sometimes critique in my books from a fresher perspective. i don't think this book would be the same if it was written from yunhua's perspective. or yunjun or yunxuan's for the matter.

with the quotes in most of the aesthetics, it sort of sums up all of the characters' lives and their fates. my chinese level is severely lacking after multiple years in the uk, but i did my best. i like to think the quotes were things the characters would say, or did say, in a moment that encompassed their lives.

anyways, i hope you enjoy reading the ballad of eternal glory!