In reality, what this little world needs is progress, and the most authoritative person to unify the world is the guy in front of her who is choking her, the male protagonist in the early stages, Yin Jiuxiao.

However, his paranoia, which he developed from a young age, was far too severe.

On a winter night when he was ten years old, Yin Jiuxiao huddled in a corner of the cold palace, listening to the approaching footsteps of the search party outside.

He had a deep, bone-revealing wound on his left arm, the work of his younger brother, Yin Mingjin.

Just two hours ago, the child who always followed behind him and sweetly called him "Royal Brother" stabbed him in the arm with a poisoned dagger.

"A reward of a thousand gold pieces will be given to whoever finds the Eighth Prince!"

The assassin's voice pierced through the wind and snow.

Yin Jiuxiao gritted his teeth and tightly tied the wound with his belt.

He didn't understand why, if his younger brother wanted to kill him, even his mother wanted to send someone to kill him.

Just this afternoon, his mother gently stroked his head and praised him for reciting the "Strategies for Governing the Country" well.

That evening, the pastries sent by the imperial kitchen were laced with a deadly poison. His pet ferret took a bite and died on the spot.

He could vaguely glean some clues from his mother's occasional words, but he refused to believe them.

“Xiao’er, sometimes… there are some things that I’m not good at disciplining you.”

“If Jin’er wants to secure her position as Crown Prince, she must become mediocre.”

He recalled the look in his mother's eyes when he was about to leave at noon, a look that was both gentle and somewhat cold.

As the footsteps drew closer, Yin Jiuxiao held his breath and saw a group of assassins carrying torches passing by through the broken window.

The leader was none other than the middle-aged commander of the assassins that his mother had given him, the one who had taught him to be benevolent and loving. At this moment, he was coldly issuing the order: "Although the poison has entered the body, Consort Hui said that we must see him alive or dead."

The snow fell heavier and heavier, and Yin Jiuxiao's vision began to blur. He remembered what his father had said to him five days ago by his bedside: "Xiao'er, although you are not usually ambitious, I know you have great talent. I will only feel at ease if the Northern Cang Dynasty is handed over to you... But your mother... Never mind, I want you to promise me that if one day... your mother does something wrong, you must not be ruthless and kill her..."

At the time, he didn't want to understand the meaning of those words and pretended to be stupid to fool them. He only understood when he was being chased.

"I've found you."

A cold, eerie voice suddenly rang out from above.

Yin Jiuxiao looked up and saw the leader of the assassins' sinister eyes flickering in the firelight. He raised his sword, the tip pointing at his heart: "Your Highness, please rest in peace on your journey."

Just as the sword was about to fall, a dark shadow flashed by, and the leader of the assassins suddenly spat out blood from his throat.

Yin Jiuxiao stared blankly as the commander, who had secretly taught him martial arts, collapsed and convulsed. A masked man put away his blood-stained dagger and knelt on one knee: "Yin Yi, commander of the royal guards, is here by His Majesty's secret decree to protect the Eighth Prince."

It turns out that Father Emperor had foreseen all of this.

That night, Yin Jiuxiao watched as Yin Yi burned the Cold Palace to the ground. From the flames came screams of agony, the screams of his mother who had sent people to kill him.

He stood in the snow, watching his childhood turn to ashes. The wound on his left arm froze, but it couldn't compare to the chill in his heart.

"Your Highness, it's time to go... His Majesty has prepared an army for you in the Southern Border. He said he will summon you back when the time comes."

Yin Yi said in a low voice.

Yin Jiuxiao took one last look at the burning palace before turning and stepping into the wind and snow.

From that moment on, the Eighth Prince who would buy sesame cakes for his younger brother outside the palace and massage his mother's legs and shoulders died. The one who survived was Yin Jiuxiao, who was abandoned by everyone and covered in wounds.