In year 432, General Bei LiYing staged a successful military coup against the inept King Zhao and ascended to the throne as the fourth king of Rong. And thank the heavens for that, thought the masses, sick to death of Zhao's deadly incompetence. Long live the new king, they cried. Their cheers then redoubled when the court astrologer declared that Bei would bring unprecedented glory to their small kingdom.

The prediction proved true. In the eight years that followed, Bei led his troops from victory to victory, expanding Rong from an obscure principality to one of the most dominant centers of power in the region, rivaled only by the kingdoms of Jing and Wei. During that same period, Bei was also secured a line of successor as his wives successively bore him three healthy sons. Truly, a man blessed by the heavens, long live the King.

And soon, he would have a fourth child.

On a cold, clear evening in the eighth winter of his reign, King Bei's favorite consort went into labor at long last after surviving several assassination attempts. At the palace, all activity ceased as people cautiously awaited the arrival of a new prince, whom the King promised to name as his true successor. The King himself paced up and down outside his consort's chambers all night as the frail lady moaned and cried into her blood-drenched sheets. Finally, at dawn, the royal doctor bowed before the King.

"Well, what news?"

"Your Highness, I-I congratulate on the birth of the young . . . the young prin-princess."

One could have heard a pin drop.

"Princess? " the King cried. What use had he for a daughter? Why in the world did that cursed woman birth a girl, when no one else had? And he loved her so . . . He stomped out of the consort's chambers in bitter disappointment. The lady died shortly thereafter, alone and miserable.

The baby, however, survived.

As it happened, one of the attending maids, Xi Xi, had just given birth to a stillborn child and took pity on the motherless newborn. She bundled the princess up and fed her some of her own milk, ensuring the child's survival. The princess gurgled happily with a carefree, toothless grin; Xi Xi was enchanted.

"Can't we do something for the poor girl?" Xi Xi asked her lover, who was none other than the esteemed court astrologer.

The astrologer looked to the stars and mused, "Perhaps."

The wise astrologer whispered in the King's ear that the Princess had been born at a fortuitous moment: the descent of the first frost as the north star aligned with the moon. In short, she was destined for greatness. For the sake of the country, she must be allowed to live.

The King found it hard to believe that a girl, especially one who killed her mother at birth, could be destined for anything other than disaster. But who was he to question the unfailing foresight of the astrologer? What if she was key to bringing the country to new heights of greatness?

"Well," suggested the astrologer, "There couldn't be any harm in giving the girl a name and title. My lover, Xi Xi, can take care of her. Your Eminence need only wait and see what happens. She is but one more mouth to feed."

The logic was infallible. In fact, the King did even better than that. In a temporary fit of enthusiasm (perhaps born out of guilt for the consort's lonely death), he agreed to hold a fantastic ceremony at court to celebrate the infant's birth.

Thus, on an icy morning in the first month of the year, all the noblemen in the capital trekked up to the palace to see their glorious new princess. This included, of course, the Duke of Kang, Zhao KaiGe, who brought with him his young son, Zhao Yun. As a preeminent peer of the kingdom, the Duke and his son were invited to step up to the dais and observe the infant up close while she slept in her cradle.

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Zhao Yun had just turned five but was precocious beyond his years. He stood on his tiptoes to peer over the cradle's edge with his dark, intelligent eyes and remarked with a look of wonder, "What large eyes the Princess has. They're so very pretty. Father, how should I address her?"

The Duke and the King both chuckled, and the King replied merrily, "She was born on the dawn of the first frost, and accordingly, shall be hailed as Princess ChenShuang."

"Shuang . . ." the little boy mused. As if hearing him, the Princess turned her head towards him and giggled.

The Duke gave the King a shrewd smile and said, "You know, Your Highness, my Yun is not so much older than the Princess. Perhaps you might consider--"

"Duke," interrupted the bitter Queen, who had hitherto been sitting quietly at the King's side. "I hope you're not suggesting a marriage already. The girl had just come out of the womb. Though I know you're eager to restore the Zhaos back to the throne, you forget that my own son--"

"All in good time," interrupted the King, brows furrowed. The Duke knew his chance had passed. He bowed and ushered his son away, though not before throwing a sly smile at the Queen. "Just you wait," he muttered, "Our time will come." The boy followed along docilely, pretending to hear nothing, though his eyes sparkled as he considered his father's words.

Seething, the Queen whispered to her husband, "I don't know why you let that man live. He's the old's king own brother, for goodness' sakes! Even if he helped you in the rebellion, you can't expect any loyalty--"

"--I cannot do away with him yet," was the impatient reply "Do you think I haven't thought about it? He has too much influence among the nobles, and he controls a portion of the troops. But I'll have him eventually. Just you wait."

Meanwhile, observing all this from the shadows, Xi XI whispered to her lover, "Is this so wise? Should we have allowed the child to live, when you see in her future that she will contribute to the downfall of the King? Is it not better to kill her now--"

"Well, one cannot elide fate," the astrologer replied with a careless shrug. "The King will meet his in good time."

*

The years paraded by one after another without pause. Rong continued expanding for some time, but then began to stagnate as the generals who ascended to power alongside Bei LiYing grew complacent. Perpetuating the age-old cycle of corruption, they harnessed their newly accumulated wealth and power to exploit the poor.

In time, the court astrologer lost favor to his younger replacement and was sent packing to his home village. Xi Xi lost her head after upsetting one of the princes. The Duke of Kang was executed for conspiring against the King in an unsuccessful coup, and his son was made a slave, the gravest insult of all.

As for the Princess of Morning Frost, without the backing of the astrologer, she receded into relative obscurity. Inconspicuously, in her gilded cage of the great palace, she grew into a lovely maiden of nineteen.

"It's time, I think, that we made some use of her," declared the King who, aged and anxious, suddenly recalled the old astrologer's fortune for his daughter. She would help revive Rong from its slump and quell the growing unrest.

The Queen agreed eagerly, happy to see the girl go at last.

So Princess Bei ChenShuang of Rong was married off to the younger prince of Jing to help the two kingdoms achieve a long awaited alliance.

Her wedding procession set off on an auspicious autumn day. Along with her small entourage of guards, servants and maids, she was also accompanied by Zhao Yun, that son of the former Duke who, for some years now, had been serving as the Princess's personal slave. Their small retinue made slow but steady progress across the snowy plains of Rong and was due to arrive in the capital of Jing in a half month's time.

Then, unexpectedly, the procession was attacked. Deep in the northern forests separating the two kingdoms, a band of armed and masked marauders suddenly appeared from among the trees and charged at the Princess's carriage. Not a soul lived, it was said. Indeed, the Princess's body could not even be found.

King Bei flew into a wild rage.

"It's the Wei!" he cried. "Surely it's the Wei. They've come to sabotage our alliance with the Jing. They're frightened of that we'll become too mighty! But now that they've insulted us by killing our princess, we have no choice but to declare war! We shall declare war!"

The Queen smiled. "Indeed. And the Jing must aid us now, musn't they? What perfect timing."

*

Meanwhile, on the outskirts of a village in the mountains, two youths sold to the local pawnshop what appeared to be pricey wedding robes, then disappeared without a trace . . .