However, the Ancestral Emperor was far-sighted and knew that the situation of the Three Kingdoms would not last forever. He collaborated with An Honglie to make early preparations, instructing him to establish a secret department known only to the current emperor and crown prince. This department trained the first batch of spies to be sent to West Liang and South Rui and stored both the Great Qi Kingdom’s secrets and the intelligence collected by the spies, managed in layers.
After hundreds of years, it formed a massive organization where spies were not influenced by imperial power and only answered to the master of the secret department. This authority was granted by the Ancestral Emperor to An Honglie as a form of protection. The Ancestral Emperor recognized that, although he and An Honglie shared a deep bond, future generations might not coexist peacefully. The An family’s control of secrets implied a potential weakness for any capable emperor who would want to eliminate this threat. Thus, he ensured the An family had complete control over the spies, making any ruler contemplating harm to the An family aware of the massive consequences.
As for what motivated the Ancestral Emperor to support the An family, entrust power to An Honglie instead of his children, and leave vulnerabilities for his descendants—only he knew. However, everyone agreed that the Ancestral Emperor was exceptionally generous to An Honglie, who, in turn, severed relations with all relatives, sending them to the border cities of Qi Kingdom, earning a reputation for being unfilial and unrighteous.
After his wife gave birth to their first son, An Honglie consumed a sterility potion to limit his descendants’ numbers. With more people, hearts would diverge, making it difficult to preserve massive secrets. He established a family rule that each generation could have only one heir responsible for the secret department, which was not to be revealed to anyone, even close kin. Unless the An family’s survival was at stake, they must never act against imperial power.
To prevent potential betrayal, he even poisoned his firstborn. This hereditary poison ensured death before turning thirty without the antidote.
