Yan Ying is a bright child who loves to read. By the age of fourteen, he had already passed the exam and becom…
Yan Ying is a bright child who loves to read. By the age of fourteen, he had already passed the exam and become a Xiucai (a preliminary scholar). The people in his village often praise Yan's family having a star of Literature. At that time, he was full of youthful ambition, and was about to make a name for himself. But suddenly, the Khitan invaded the south. His country was vanquished in a heartbeat and his family was torn apart. Seeing his homeland in ruins and the villagers struggling to survive, Yan Ying came to realize that mere scholarship could do little to save a broken world. Realizing that only by taking up weapons could he quell the chaos and restore peace, he laid down his brush and took up the sword, joining the army under Emperor Shizong of the Later Zhou Dynasty (the Emperor of Generation).
Life in the army crawled by, and Chinese chess became a small refuge for the soldiers. One day, Yan Ying chanced upon a battered fragment of a Chinese chess manual, where he discovered the story of Emperor Mingzong of the Later Tang Dynasty (Li Siyuan, the Emperor of Wisdom), who had once outwitted General Ge by adapting a strategy from the game to win a legendary battle. Inspired by his battles, he began weaving real encounters into his chess play, crafting a style that mirrored warfare in every move. Before long, Yan Ying's gift for foreseeing battles through the board earned him widespread acclaim as a master strategist throughout the army.