And so the story begins properly! Also I can finally stop calling Li Bing “cat protagonist”.

Commandery Prince is a high rank of nobility, typically granted to the sons of Imperial Princes by their principal wives (except for the eldest sons). Tianshui is the name of the region that was Li Bing’s fief. This is the first glimpse we’re getting into Li Bing’s tragic past - but it’s in no way the last.

As we figured in the previous chapter, the events of the manhua might not directly correlate to the real historical events; still, it’s worth noting that Li was the surname of Wu Zetian’s husband, the former Emperor, as well as their sons. After the death of Wu Zetian’s husband, Emperor Gaozong, while Wu Zetian was the de-facto ruler, it were actually her sons (first Li Zhe aka Emperor Zhongzong and then Li Dan aka Emperor Ruizong) on the throne. Both of them were subsequently demoted (though remained alive). With Wu Zetian being pretty ruthless towards her political opponents, some members of the Li family were apprehensive of her; some even plotted rebellions before her official ascension. As you can probably guess, they were all harshly suppressed.

Minister Lu is the person in charge of the Dali court as a whole. I shortened the somewhat more appropriate to that period “Chief Minister” to Minister, as usual, to save space. I think the meaning is clear enough. The Vice Minister is the rank directly under the Minister.