The Kingdom of Desire

During the Eastern Chou Dynasty of the Warring State when feudalism was at its peak, the nation of Chi fell prey to the greed and ambitions of the Lord Chancellor, Earl Wei-Lie. East City Defender, Au-Shu, and his deputy, Meng, were called upon to settle the disputes. On the way home from their triumphant expedition, the “Ghost in the Mountains” foretold the destiny of both men that Au-Shu would be awarded chancellorship and he would later succeed the throne, for Meng’s son was
to take the throne after all.

It turned out later that Au-shu was awarded the title. When Lady Au-Shu found out about the omen, she urged her husband to usurp. On the very night of his appointment, Au-Shu committed regicide and laid the blame on the guard, thus fulfilling his desire as king.

For fear of history repeating itself, Au-Shu put up a contract for the lives of Meng and his sun. Meng’s son had narrowly escaped his death but his father was not so lucky.

The spirit of Meng caught Au-Shu off guard at the banquet and frightened him into confessing his misdeeds. On the other hand, the assassin who reported the missing of Meng’s son was slain by Lady Au-Shu for his blunder.

To avenge his father’s death, Meng’s son led the army of neighboring state, Yen, and marched towards the city. Burdened with guilt, Lady Au-Shu drove herself insane and kept rubbing her hand of “blood stain”. Finally, she took her own life. After learning his wife’s death, Au-Shu rushed down to the woods trying to reason with the Ghost and the latter again predicted that he might as well hold the throne, lest trees moved. As soon as Au-Shu brought the relieving news back to the castle, his worst nightmare came true; the trees moved. The Yen army was cutting down branches for shields. This was the fatal blow for the Chi army and Au-Shu was shot dead by an arrow.