At this moment, Yuwei suddenly seemed to remember something and looked at Yuxin seriously, saying, "Actually, the Ninth Prince is quite pitiful. His mother committed suicide when he was ten years old. Moreover, the King of Dahua completely ignored him and showed no concern for him whatsoever."
"Now that the Great Hua King is seriously ill, the issue of succession to the throne has suddenly become a hot topic of concern. The current situation is roughly divided into three factions, one led by the eldest prince, another by the second prince, and the last one choosing to remain neutral. However, the ninth prince, Hua Yuan, has neither power nor influence and is completely an insignificant figure. In any case, he will ultimately become a victim of their struggle."
"Sigh~." After saying that, Yuwei also sighed softly, to express her dissatisfaction with Huayuan's subsequent actions.
Night quietly fell, and a bright, full moon hung high in the vast sky like a silver plate.
The pure white moonlight poured down, illuminating the entire Great Hua Royal City.
At the summit of a towering mountain, the soft light shone precisely on Yu Xin.
She was still wearing a veil and a long white dress. Her figure was graceful and elegant. Under the moonlight, she was as beautiful and charming as a goddess descending from the moon.
Yu Xin sat quietly on the soft grass, her eyes fixed on the brightly lit and bustling capital of Dahua in the distance. Her thoughts churned, like the turbulent waves of the sea, unable to find peace. No one knew what she was thinking at that moment.
Just then, a light footstep sound came, followed by a familiar voice that broke the silence and interrupted Yu Xin's closed-eye contemplation.
"Miss Yu Xin, I didn't expect to see you here."
The voice was gentle and magnetic.
I don't even need to turn around; I can tell who it is just by their voice.
She had just met Hua Yuan today, but she was also a little puzzled. Was this just a simple coincidence, or was there some other meaning behind it?
Although my heart was turned away, I still had some indescribable feelings inside.
She then forced herself to remain calm and replied in a composed tone, "Hello, Ninth Prince!"
After speaking, he gazed into the distance, leisurely admiring the bustling night view of the capital, seemingly paying no attention to the person behind him.
"Miss Yuxin, I never expected you to have such a leisurely state of mind and live such a carefree life," the Ninth Prince teased with a smile.
Yu Xin smiled slightly and replied softly, "You flatter me, Ninth Prince. If you wish, you can certainly do the same as me."
Hearing this, the Ninth Prince couldn't help but sigh softly: "Alas! It's a pity that I was born into an imperial family. Such a leisurely life is just a luxury for me. In this vortex of power struggles, I don't even know how much longer I can survive."
Yu Xin didn't respond, but silently gazed at Hua Yuan's near-perfect face, quietly waiting for him to continue.
At this moment, Hua Yuan took a deep breath and slowly began to recount: "About seventeen or eighteen years ago, the king had a relationship with a female official after getting drunk. Afterwards, the female official was filled with sorrow. You see, she originally had no interest in palace life. If it weren't for the fact that the Empress Dowager of Da Hua saved the female official's life back then, and the fact that the female official was originally a highly skilled doctor, she would have stayed in the palace at the Empress Dowager's request."
"However, since that incident, it seems that the king has completely forgotten her. To make matters worse, the other concubines in the palace, out of jealousy of the lady-in-waiting's stunning beauty, have been humiliating her in every way imaginable. Just when she was in despair and ready to leave this heartbreaking place forever, she was shocked to discover that she was pregnant."
"Later, this pregnant lady met another concubine who was neglected by the king during her pregnancy. At first, the concubine, unable to bear the endless loneliness of the long years, had the idea of ending her life."
"However, just as she was about to take action, she was spotted by a kind lady-in-waiting and successfully rescued. From then on, the two became closer and closer, and gradually became best friends who could talk about anything and share their hearts with each other."
Time flew by, and the lady-in-waiting's due date drew ever closer. Finally, on a dark night filled with howling winds and torrential rain, just as she was struggling to give birth in the delivery room, a dazzling golden light suddenly streaked across the sky and fell straight into her room. Immediately afterward, accompanied by a loud cry, a healthy baby boy was born.
"But sadly, after giving birth to the baby boy, the lady-in-waiting suffered a fatal postpartum hemorrhage. Despite everyone's best efforts to save her, they were ultimately unable to save her, and she eventually passed away."
"As the baby boy grew up, one day he accidentally learned a shocking truth: his birth mother did not die from postpartum hemorrhage as rumored, but was murdered by palace maids bribed by jealous and resentful concubines shortly after giving birth to him. These vicious people smothered the weak female official with thick cotton quilts, causing her to suffocate to death."
"Fortunately, the poor baby boy was not left alone. The good friend the lady-in-waiting had made, the concubine who had also been neglected by the king, resolutely adopted him and cared for him as if he were her own son."
"The days passed peacefully until, at a state banquet one year, the gears of fate began to turn quietly. When the king, dressed in his finest attire, inadvertently caught a glimpse of the now-grown baby boy, an indescribable sense of familiarity welled up within him."
"After a thorough investigation and confirmation, the king finally accepted the fact and publicly announced that he recognized the baby boy as the legitimate heir of his bloodline, bestowing upon him the incomparably noble status of a prince. As the saying goes, 'a mother's status rises with her son', and the concubine who had been neglected was thus able to regain the king's favor and attention."
"However, the struggles in the harem were so cruel and merciless! Good times are always short-lived, and after only ten years, the favored concubine could not escape her tragic fate."
"Many treacherous concubines conspired to scheme against her, pressing her step by step, and ultimately drove her to hang herself."
"And all these tragedies were witnessed by the ten-year-old prince. He watched helplessly as his mother, who had raised him for ten years, was driven to despair and died. He knew that it was because of his special status that his kind and gentle foster mother had lost her life."
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