The current royal family has the surname Qi. Prince Rong is the only prince of a different surname in the current dynasty. His surname is Qin, his name is Shu, and his courtesy name is Chengchao.
When Qin Zhao was stranded in Linxi Village, his memory was damaged, so he gave himself the pseudonym Qin Zhao based on his remaining memories.
There are no stars or moon tonight. The pleasure boat floats quietly in the center of the lake. The lantern hanging on the bow is like a lonely lamp in the long night, swaying slightly, lonely and silent.
The same silence reigned within the pleasure boat. Xiao Yue raised his head, took a sip of wine, and said with a smile, "The once powerful Regent abandoned his position as Prince, hid his identity, and even took the imperial examination. What's the matter? Did he find his retirement boring and wanted to prove his talent once again at such an old age?"
In such a short period of time, Xiao Yue had already found out everything about him, which was not easy.
Qin Zhao looked at him with an indescribable expression and reminded him, "I'm three years younger than you."
Xiao Yue: “…”
"You're still so annoying when you talk." Xiao Yue poured himself a glass of wine. "Try it. This isn't the cheap wine from the restaurant. It's the mare's milk wine I brought from the border. You can't drink it on weekdays."
Only then did Qin Zhao notice that the wine in the glass was milky white, and when he smelled it carefully, there was a faint milky aroma. It was indeed different from ordinary wine.
Qin Zhao's eyes moved slightly, but he still shook his head: "I really can't drink."
Xiao Yue's nonchalant expression finally faded, and he frowned: "What on earth are you..."
Qin Zhao pressed his eyebrows.
He had just recovered from a serious illness and had been out for too long today, feeling a bit exhausted. "Do you think I'm pretending to be sick?"
This time it was Xiao Yue's turn to remain silent.
He stared at Qin Zhao for a moment and asked in a deep voice, "What happened? I thought you—"
"You thought I was retiring on my own initiative?" Qin Zhao sighed. "That's how it should have been."
Xiao Yue: "What happened?"
"have no idea."
Xiao Yue rubbed his fingers gently on the wine glass and said leisurely, "Although I am far away in the frontier, I have heard a lot of things."
"When the young emperor ascended the throne, he was only twelve years old. The late emperor was worried about him and entrusted him to you. It happened to be a time of turmoil, and you killed countless corrupt officials, but you earned the reputation of being ambitious and ruthless."
"...You spread this rumor on purpose, didn't you?"
"Yes," Qin Zhao said calmly, "Aren't you afraid that I'll take away your military power, so you've been hiding in the borderland for so many years?"
Xiao Yue cursed: "I'm not afraid of you——"
Qin Zhao raised his eyes and looked at him.
Xiao Yue's voice faltered, and he changed the subject: "Go on, what happened next?"
Qin Zhao said, "The late emperor has been seriously ill for many years. Corrupt officials are rampant throughout the government and the country. One move can affect the entire system. It is impossible to eradicate them completely without taking the right path."
Xiao Yue: "So, you used the reputation to kill them all and took the opportunity to replace them with your own people."
This is the reason why the Regent, as the legend goes, became so bloodthirsty in his desire to eliminate dissidents.
Qin Zhao corrected him: "It was replaced by a talented person."
"It's all the same. They're all yours anyway." Xiao Yue waved his hand and added, "I already knew all this. What happened next?"
Qin Zhao said, "It took me five full years to stabilize the situation. As His Majesty gradually grew in stature, I began to prepare for retirement."
Xiao Yue understood: "You deliberately created the image of a treacherous minister to the outside world, and when the time was right, you staged a show with the young emperor, allowing him to kill the treacherous minister and take back power."
Qin Zhao nodded: "Yes."
Qin Zhao only recently began to recall these things.
As the days passed, his lost memories were mostly recovered. Otherwise, he would not have dared to appear in front of Xiao Yue so easily.
It is true that he and Xiao Yue don't get along.
The Xiao family has always been the most committed to protecting imperial power. When the late emperor entrusted him with the regent before his death, many people were afraid that the imperial power would fall into the hands of others, and Xiao Yue was the one who opposed it the most.
But Xiao Yue couldn't defeat him, so he left in anger and asked to guard the border.
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