Alfred the Great his craving for what he desired the most, namely the liberal arts; for, as he used to say, there were no good scholars in the entire kingdom of the West Saxons at that time". In 868, Alfred married Ealhswith, daughter of a Mercian nobleman, Æthelred Mucel, Ealdorman of the Gaini. The Gaini were probably one of the tribal groups of the Mercians. Ealhswith's mother, Eadburh, was a member of the Mercian royal family. They had five or six children together including: Edward the Elder who succeeded his father as king; Æthelflæd who became Lady (ruler) of the Mercians in her
King Kang of Chu the Wu army, Chu general Niu Chen (牛臣) pretended to give up Chaocheng and left the city gate wide open. When the unsuspecting Zhufan entered the city, Niu Chen shot and killed him with an arrow. The Wu army fell into chaos and was again defeated. Zhufan's brother Yuji succeeded him as king of Wu. King Kang was the eldest of King Gong's five sons, four of whom would ascend the throne. When King Kang died in 545 BC after 15 years of reign he was succeeded by his son Xiong Yuan (posthumous title Jia'ao) and King Kang's younger brother