After the Spoiled Bottom's Heart Turned to Ash

(1)

Xu Zhenyi, the only male empress of the Great Yong Dynasty.

Beautiful and distinguished in birth.

Dressed in finery, pampered and indulged.

He grew up alongside the current emperor, Xie Zhi, and they shared the bond of childhood sweethearts.

After ascending the throne, Xie Zhi defied the opposition and made him empress.

(2)

Xu Zhenyi had been spoiled, innocent, and carefree since birth.

He remained the same after entering the palace.

Today he wanted to admire flowers; tomorrow he wanted to go horseback riding.

Every day he pestered Xie Zhi, unwilling to be apart from him for even a moment.

But Xie Zhi’s indulgent affection for him gradually took on a different tone.

For the nineteenth time this month, Xie Zhi turned down his request to have lunch together, choosing instead to discuss the classics and state affairs with the newly appointed top scholar.

Xu Zhenyi had only asked one question, but Xie Zhi flew into a rage and scolded him in front of the scholar and a crowd of palace servants.

“Three years in the palace, and you haven’t improved at all!

You know nothing of rules or etiquette. You’re childish and unbearably immature!

You can’t hold a candle to the top scholar. You’re not even as good as the puppies that were just born in the imperial kennel!”

Xu Zhenyi froze on the spot, his eyes reddening, then turned and left.

He returned to the empress’s chambers, packed his things, and prepared to go home.

When he left the hall, Xie Zhi did not come.

When he left the palace gate, Xie Zhi did not come.

By the time he reached the gates of the Duke of Dingguo’s residence, Xie Zhi still had not come.

Xu Zhenyi clutched his bundle, taking a few steps and turning back each time as he entered the house. Then he heard his parents discussing something.

They said, “Zhenyi is spoiled, and now he’s the empress. We’d better not tell him about the child-swapping incident from back then.”

“Since he is the empress, we should tell him all the more, so he’ll watch what he says and stop pestering His Majesty every day.”

“His Majesty has probably grown tired of him already. If he’s deposed, the reputation of our duke’s household will suffer too.”

With a thud, the bundle fell from Xu Zhenyi’s hands, and he collapsed with it.

(3)

So that was it...

Xu Zhenyi was not the young master of the duke’s household after all.

He was just the child of an ordinary farming family.

The real young master was the top scholar of the same age who was discussing state affairs with Xie Zhi.

Xie Zhi was right. Xu Zhenyi was not as steady or talented as the top scholar.

Even the twenty years he had spent surrounded by finery and luxury had been stolen from the top scholar.

Sick with a high fever, Xu Zhenyi dragged himself back to the palace in disgrace.

He no longer dared to make a fuss, laugh, or keep clinging to Xie Zhi.

To preserve a shred of dignity, he even knelt before Xie Zhi, lowered his head, and asked to be deposed as empress.

But why did Xie Zhi look so dissatisfied?

· The gong is pure, and there is nothing between him and the top scholar. They are simply ordinary superiors and subordinates.

· Xie Zhi is pronounced like “zhi,” the “zhi” in “rewarding and punishing, praising and condemning.”

Theme: Love someone for who they were at the very beginning.