She mistakenly got into the bridal sedan chair and married a sickly but powerful minister, becoming

He was the former crown prince, Zongzheng Changyuan. From the moment he was born, he was made crown prince and shouldered the heavy responsibility of the country. His father was very disciplined and always followed the ancestral laws. However, on the matter of taking him to the morning court, no matter how the ministers argued with him about the ancestral rules, he always insisted on his own opinion.

Because the Emperor firmly believed that reading extensively was important, but traveling widely was equally essential. He argued that merely reading without practice was nothing more than empty talk.

So from the time he could remember, his father took him to the morning court every day, so that he could learn about the affairs of the court through what he saw and heard.

Furthermore, the emperor would involve him and encourage him to express his inner thoughts, even if they were some childish ideas that were hilarious. The emperor would then smile and praise him for having his own opinions, saying that he would surely become a great emperor with both civil and military achievements.

His father never treated him like a child.

Unfortunately, my father was a benevolent but somewhat indecisive emperor. Although he appointed people based on merit and was diligent in governing and caring for the people, he ultimately lacked the decisiveness and courage to kill, which led to the downfall of the dynasty.

On the day of the palace coup, the sounds of killing shook the heavens, flames soared into the sky, limbs and torsos littered the ground, and blood mist filled the air, as if a blood rain had fallen.

His father and mother's trusted confidants risked their lives to help him escape and hide him in the national temple, thus saving him from disaster.

Once the storm had passed, the female official who served his mother took him back to his mother's ancestral home and changed his name.

Nominally, the female official was his aunt. His parents had both passed away, and he was raised in his aunt's home.

Therefore, he took the female official's surname, Yan.

That year, he was only seven or eight years old, burdened with a deep-seated hatred.

When he was a teenager, he passed the imperial examination with flying colors and returned to the capital. He stayed by Chu Mingyuan's side and devoted himself to the restoration of the country. He never paid attention to unimportant people.

He divides people in this world into two categories: those who are useful to him and those who are useless to him.

Princess Ke Yizhen was an accident.

I first met her at the National Temple.

That year, he was twenty years old.

She was twelve years old.

He caught a cold and went to a temple to meditate. When he had nothing to do, he would debate scriptures with Master Xuqing to release the emotions that had been building up in his heart.

That evening, he led the young novice monk out of Master Xuqing's meditation room to the dining hall for their meal. They happened to pass by the area where the national temple was being expanded, where they met a little girl.

The little girl was dressed simply, her smooth black hair was styled into two buns and tied with two red ribbons, with no other decorations.

She carried a load of water and walked with great difficulty toward the dining hall.

Those thin arms were not even as thick as the carrying pole on her shoulders.

However, everyone has their own destiny.

He didn't take it to heart, treating him merely as a passerby.

Naturally, there would be no pity.

On the contrary, the young novice monk explained the reason why the little girl was fetching water in the temple: "She is Princess Yizhen, who came to Northern Qi from the Great Zhou as a hostage. She heard that her brother was sick and begged the abbot to take her in to work in the temple. All she needs is a full meal."

"But the temple's menial tasks were done by outer disciples, so there was no need for her. Just then, the temple was being expanded, and the abbot, being kind-hearted, kept her in the temple to do some menial work."

"She looked young and thin, but she was quite strong. She never complained about being tired or dirty while working, and she worked even harder than the strong men who came down from the mountain to work at the temple. For lunch, she would ask for a bowl of thin porridge and a steamed bun. She would only eat the bowl of porridge and leave the steamed bun. For dinner, she would take two steamed buns down the mountain."

"One day, the fellow disciples in the dining hall saw that she was pale and sweating profusely, leaning against the mountain spring pool and drinking water. The fellow disciples in the dining hall knew some medical skills, and after taking her pulse, they realized that she was hungry."

"Upon asking, I learned that she only ate one bowl of thin porridge a day, and gave the rest to her elder brother. Her brother took pity on her and from then on gave her an extra steamed bun and some vegetarian dishes. She didn't take them for free; before going down the mountain, she would carry several buckets of water for the dining hall."

He doesn't like listening to other people's gossip.

This time, it was probably upon hearing the name "Princess Yizhen" that the young novice monk began to talk about her all the way.

Before the palace coup, his father and mother greatly admired Empress Xiaoen of the Great Zhou Dynasty. They said that she was a rare and extraordinary woman who could quell the rebellion and stabilize the country while in full military uniform, and who could also support the previous emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty in governing the country after she took off her military uniform. Therefore, he had an impression of Empress Xiaoen.

Until Emperor Jing'an and Princess Yizhen came to Northern Qi as hostages.

The scout relayed this message to him.

Only then did he learn that the late Emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty, fearing Empress Xiao'en, had exterminated her entire clan and ordered her execution. Her two children were also sent to Northern Qi as hostages.

At that moment, he felt only the impermanence of life.

That was all I could think of.

A muffled thud came from behind.

He paused, turned around, and saw Princess Yizhen fall to the ground, her clothes soaked by the water in the wooden tub.

Princess Yizhen lay motionless on the ground, presumably injured from the fall.

The young novice monk exclaimed, "Little benefactor!" With that, he rushed over and carefully helped Princess Yizhen to her feet.

As soon as she stopped, Princess Yizhen's face turned pale, and she bent her knees and knelt on the ground.

In a split second, he instinctively grabbed Princess Yizhen's arms to prevent her from kneeling and aggravating her knee injury. When he came to his senses, he realized what he had done.

Being soft-hearted is a fatal flaw for someone like him.

They are unlikely to achieve great things.

He prepared to help Princess Yizhen sit down on a nearby rock, and keenly noticed that her body was trembling, as if she was enduring great pain.

Suddenly, his sleeve felt heavy, and he looked down.

A hand gripped his sleeve tightly, and a soft, nasal voice cried out, "It hurts."

It was at this moment that he noticed that Princess Yizhen's skirt at the knees was stained bright red with blood, indicating that her injury was extremely serious.

He sighed, and finally disregarded the rules of propriety between men and women, carrying Princess Yizhen horizontally to Master Xuqing's meditation room.

Master Xuqing was slightly surprised to see him return. When he saw the little girl in his arms, he raised his eyebrows in astonishment, seemingly not expecting that he would ever meddle in other people's business.

Perhaps it was because his father and mother admired Empress Xiaoen, and Empress Xiaoen's children were relegated to the status of hostages in an enemy country, a situation that was somewhat similar to his own, that he stepped in to help her.

At this moment, the young novice monk brought out a brown robe that he had never worn before.

After the group left the meditation room, Princess Yizhen changed into a clean set of clothes.

At this moment, Master Xuqing reminded him: "Heqing, given Princess Yizhen's status, you should have less contact with her."