Ka Clan

Background

According to Li's founding myth, a foreign-born noblewoman, Wang Mu, the Mother Royal, arrived with three warriors and married the local chief; their son became the first emperor after passing the test of the Shrine of Choosing, a test of the red-green colour blindness preserved in the line. The Former Emperor, a youngest son, took the throne only after his half-brothers died in an epidemic, and his mother, the Empress Regnant, ruled in his stead.

His son Ka Gyouyoh became crown prince and took Ah-Duo as his consort; her firstborn was born at the same time as Empress Anshi's second son, Ka Zuigetsu, and the palace records say the crown prince's firstborn died in infancy after being fed honey. Ka Zuigetsu later became the eunuch overseer of the Rear Palace under the name Jinshi. Ka Gyouyoh took the throne five years before the story; three of his infant children died because of a toxic face powder, and he has a daughter, Lingli, and a son by Gyokuyou, now Empress, whose son is crown prince, and a son by Lihua.