Yandang is the name histories give the court clique around Yan Song (严嵩), senior grand secretary under the Jiajing Emperor in the mid-sixteenth century, and his son Yan Shifan (严世蕃). For some two decades the faction controlled appointments and was accused of bribery and of ruining officials who opposed it, until Yan Song fell from favour in 1562. In dramas set in the Jiajing reign, the Yan faction is the standing villain and its opponents are the upright officials. Under the Power sets its central villain inside the faction, against the Embroidered Uniform Guard heroes.