After General Qin led the rebel army to break through the palace gates, he captured Emperor Yuxian alive on the palace wall, along with a group of imperial guards who were ready to be shot.
Only Princess Zhaoyang...
Later, whenever people mentioned her, they would sigh with regret.
Lu Huai did not kill Emperor Yu Xian, but instead made him write an abdication edict, passing the throne to the six-year-old fifth prince, Zhao Xuanyi. The country's name remained Yu, but the era name was changed to Xin, and he was known as Emperor Yu Xin.
The country was then ruled by the Third Prince, Zhao Xuanwei, who was known as the Third Prince. Zhao Xuanwei was indeed a man of great talent and ability; under his assistance, the Yu Kingdom quickly returned to its former glory, flourishing and prosperous.
Unfortunately, due to Consort Ruan's temperament, Zhao Xuanwei had never gained Emperor Yuming's favor. However, after experiencing the fratricide, his desire for power had become very indifferent, and now he was merely fulfilling his duties in his position.
The Empress Dowager, who was far away at the imperial mausoleum, did not return. Instead, Consort Qin came out to take charge and personally put the crown on Zhao Xuanyi's head.
She smiled, as if she were extremely happy, but after things stabilized in the court, she retreated behind the scenes and no longer got involved.
Emperor Yuxian, Zhao Xuanyang, was placed in the palace where Prince Ye and Prince Xu resided. Even though Prince Ye would mock him daily, it couldn't elicit any response from him.
Prince Ye's sarcasm seemed to hit cotton, leaving him feeling like he had a fishbone stuck in his throat, and over time he stopped paying attention to Zhao Xuanyang.
Lu Huai didn't specifically target Zhao Xuanyang; he simply imprisoned him here and seemed to have forgotten about him. These three brothers, bound by blood, lived together, yet not a single spark was ignited between them.
Zhao Xuanyang sat for days on end, rarely opening his eyes. Even when someone brought him food, he barely looked at them. It was as if he were in a meditative state, or perhaps he was simply resting with his eyes closed.
However, no one knew what he was doing except himself. He was thinking about something from the past—something that happened more than ten years ago.
It was a very dull afternoon, with cicadas chirping incessantly outside the window. He sat upright in his study, covering his ears as he painstakingly memorized "The Art of Emperorship."
"The Art of Emperorship" was something all the princes had to memorize, especially him. His father had high hopes for him, and his mother often told him to study hard, as only in this way could he win his father's favor.
Only then can we avoid being inferior to the Empress Dowager and the Noble Consort.
However, Zhao Yang doesn't need to study. She is Emperor Yuming's only daughter. Since she doesn't have to inherit the throne, her studies are relatively relaxed. She only needs to grow up well.
So all she had to do each day was fly kites and catch butterflies, and Emperor Yuming would be very fond of her.
That day, Zhao Yang came to find Zhao Xuanyang and asked him to fly a kite with her.
This was indeed somewhat unreasonable. However, Zhao Xuanyang had always doted on his only younger sister, so he wavered. After all, she was only seven years old, and with his youthful impetuosity, he agreed to Zhaoyang's request.
Zhao Yang was overjoyed and immediately pulled him away from the teacher and headed to the Imperial Garden, where the two flew kites.
Not long after it was flown, the kite string broke, and it fell into another palace. Fortunately, no one lived there; it was just empty. Zhaoyang told him to wait in the Imperial Garden while she went to retrieve it.
Zhao Xuanyang agreed and waited where he was. After waiting for a while and still not seeing Zhaoyang return, he became somewhat impatient.
"How come this cicada is so energetic..." he muttered in dissatisfaction, then casually turned his head and his gaze fell on something to the side, where he froze.
The exquisitely beautiful little girl, with two pigtails, blinked her adorable eyes and tilted her head, staring at him curiously. For some inexplicable reason, Zhao Xuanyang felt a piece of his heart sink into her.
He didn't know how to describe the feeling at that moment, but he couldn't help but step forward and ask, "Who are you? I've never seen you before?"
Qin Xi pouted, "I've never seen you before. Is this your home?"
Zhao Xuanyang paused for a moment, then sighed softly, "Yes, what are you doing at my house?"
Qin Xi was startled and covered her mouth in surprise, "Is this really your home? It's so big? Bigger than the Prime Minister's residence."
“That’s right.” Seven-year-old Zhao Xuanyang proudly raised his chin. “My home is definitely bigger than the Prime Minister’s residence. My home is the biggest place in the world.”
Qin Xi pointed to the sky and winked. "But my father said that the greatest place is the place of geniuses. Is this place as great as the sky?"
Zhao Xuanyang looked up at the sky, silently comparing things in his mind, and felt a little embarrassed. His face flushed red. "I don't care, my family is the biggest in the world!"
Qin Xi drawled out an "Oh".
Her actions were like a provocation. Zhao Xuanyang, enraged, retorted, "You still haven't said who you are, and why are you in my house?"
"I'm Qin Qi, and my nickname is Yizhi." She giggled, revealing a small dimple at the corner of her mouth. "My father went to see His Majesty and asked me to wait for him here."
Zhao Xuanyang's eyes widened. "See Father Emperor? Who is your father?"
"What is Father Emperor?" Five-year-old Qin Qi rubbed her eyes in confusion. "Is it something you can eat?"
Zhao Xuanyang looked at her as if she were an idiot. "My father is the same Emperor that your father went to see. Do you understand?"
"Oh, I see!" Qin Xi said happily, "Father is His Majesty, and His Majesty is Father!"
Although he felt something was off, Zhao Xuanyang couldn't pinpoint what it was, so he nodded and affirmed, "That's right. So who's your father?"
"Daddy's name is Qin Deng~ Brother, remember it well~" Qin Xi said in a childish voice.
She looked incredibly cute, but Zhao Xuanyang blushed, put his hands on his hips, and said fiercely, "Who's your brother!"
Qin Qi wasn't afraid of him, instead she smiled softly, "Hehe~ Thank you, brother!"
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