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Long night
墨書 Inktalez
In the 9th year of Tianzhen, which was a leap year, everyone around me said that the heavy snow was a gift from the heavens for me. I was a gift from the heavens to my father, the king. I was the first child born after my father's ascension to the throne. My mother and father named me Li Shunmian. This is just a small country, part of the Great Zhou Dynasty. We always have to worry about when we will be swallowed up. There are various nomadic tribes around us that occasionally harass us. What is there to be happy about being born in such a country?
I asked my mother, who is clearly so beautiful and born into a prominent family in the Great Zhou, why she chose to stay by my father's side. My mother just patted my head and returned to her Baihua Palace.
When I reached the age of 5 safely, my mother gave birth to a pair of twins, a boy and a girl. My sister survived, but my brother died young. My mother was very sad and followed the customs of her hometown by hanging many prayer flags. She said that this way, my brother would have a peaceful next life. I didn't understand. My father said I should have my own palace, but my mother had just lost a child, and I didn't want to leave.
I coquettishly told my father that I didn't want to go to the Chonghua Hall, and he picked me up and in front of the queen mother and the palace people, said that I was of age and the crown prince should live in his own East Palace. The palace people all kneeled and kowtowed to me, calling me "Your Highness the Crown Prince." I know what a crown prince is; a crown prince is the most important child of the father emperor, who will be the future emperor. I am very happy. This way, my third brother will have to salute me when he sees me in the future, and his mother, Lady Fang, won't be so arrogant.
In the future, I want to be the most powerful emperor, and kill my third brother and the annoying Lady Fang. The queen mother was very happy to hear this, but she doesn't allow me to mention my thoughts to anyone, not even the father emperor. I asked the queen mother why, and she said that the father emperor is my only father, but I am not his only child, so I cannot confide in anyone. I understand now. This is what Master Lin meant by "the heart of a ruler is hard to fathom." I am very clever.
A year after I became the crown prince, Master Lin fell from power. The father emperor was very angry and said that the queen mother's influence was too great. Not long after Master Lin fell, a man who looked ordinary came to the Zhou Dynasty, but everyone welcomed him. The queen mother said that he was my uncle's teacher, Master Hu, and he is very powerful. He will be my teacher in the future. The father emperor was happy again. He is truly a fickle man.
Fangmeiren is very unhappy. The chief palace maid quietly told me that Fangmeiren knows that the queen mother has hired a powerful teacher for me, and she is so angry that she has torn up several pieces of cloth. The chief palace maid also said that if I excel in my studies, Fangmeiren will be so angry, and the queen mother will be very happy. What a good thing! Anyway, I will have to kill Fangmeiren in the future, so it's even better to make her angry, and I won't need to find a reason.
After Hu Taishi became my tutor, the third brother always comes to me, clearly wanting to snatch the teacher. He always comes to me with his schoolwork, but I, as the crown prince, am not provoked by these little tricks. A gentleman should have the capacity to accommodate all.
After studying with Hu Taishi for a year and a half, I have learned a lot, not just the mainstream Confucianism, but also legalism, Taoism, and Mohism. It's great to see the people of the world so vibrant. There are more people in the court who support me. I know the queen mother is paving the way for me, so my future is good, and my sister's future will be even better. She is a gift from heaven to me, the only person in the world with the same blood as me. I love her.
But there are always people trying to harm us siblings. That day, my sister and I were playing in the private garden of our mother. Suddenly, a swarm of bees attacked us. We had nowhere to hide, and the palace attendants scattered, no one came to our rescue. I took off my outer robe and wrapped it around my sister, then I tucked her into the bushes and jumped into the water. But my sister still died. When I emerged from the water, she had already been trampled to death. I had hidden her so well, who would run into the bushes to save their life? No, no, the clothes wrapped around my sister were mine. Someone was after me.
When Father received the news, he rushed over. My little sister's body lay on the bed. Father picked her up and wept. She was his favorite child, they looked the most alike. It turns out that even someone like him could be heartbroken. Mother looked on expressionless. When Father came to his senses, he had all the people involved at the time arrested. After a month, it was finally revealed that beauty Su wanted to kill me but mistakenly killed my sister.
Father immediately cut off her right hand in court. This woman was truly foolish. She plotted to harm the current crown prince and kill the imperial heir, which would lead to the execution of her entire family. She didn't even ask the emperor to show mercy to her third prince, and instead, she reminded Father of their past relationship. She was both foolish and wicked. If Father truly loved her, why would he let her into the palace for eight years, only to give birth to a prince and remain just a beauty?
beauty Su was eventually trampled to death by a cow, and the Third Prince was left without anyone to care for him. It was as if the Emperor did not want him as his son, so he had no reason to live. I used some means, and not long after, the Third Prince also died. I spread the news that the Third Prince was the one who incited harm, that he killed his own mother, and was tormented day and night by the spirits of beauty Su and innocent relatives who were implicated, eventually going insane and committing suicide.
I got my revenge, but my sister still won't come back to life. I went to ask the Emperor to grant my sister a favor, and she was ennobled as Princess Zhao Yang. I took many good things from the private treasury for my sister, hoping she would be happy down there.
I was eight years old when I lost my sister.
After losing my younger sister, my mother fell seriously ill, and my father killed a large number of concubines in the palace, causing everyone to feel threatened. I asked Taifu Hu if I had caused harm to my sister, and if I was responsible for her death. Taifu Hu held me in his arms, comforting me like a grandparent comforting a grandchild, and told me that it was not my fault, but rather the malicious intentions of others that led to my sister's demise. He said that if I didn't possess the true dragon's spirit, I would have been killed as well. This reassured me, but I felt a bit unhappy because, as the crown prince, he shouldn't have touched me so casually. However, considering his wholehearted dedication to me, I didn't dwell on it. He was a good teacher.
At the age of 9, on the day of the formal enthronement ceremony, I wore a jade crown and knelt before my father's dragon throne. I received the golden decree from my father's hand and performed the ritual of three bows and nine kowtows to him. Then the ministers paid their respects to me, and after the ceremony, there was a banquet. Everything went smoothly, and the enthronement ceremony was successful.
After that, my path as the crown prince went smoothly. At the age of 20, I married the third daughter of the Sun family, a high-ranking official, as my crown princess. At 22, I had my eldest son, and at 23, I had a daughter. At 25, I led the army to defeat the nomadic tribes that had been harassing our country. At 29, my father passed away, and at 30, I ascended the throne. At 36, Taifu Hu passed away at the age of 68, and my eldest son succeeded to the throne.
My rivers and mountains are peaceful and calm.
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