A friendly reminder: this really is a sweet story.
In the fifteenth year of Yongzhen, after falling for Yue's scheme to sow discord, Qi's Grand General Who Guards the Nation, Song Tong, was falsely accused of treason and his entire family was executed. Song Jun, the general's only son, was secretly switched with another child right under the noses of the officials at the Dali Temple. The emperor was enraged and ordered a thorough investigation and a nationwide manhunt. Panic swept through the land.
In the winter of the sixteenth year of Yongzhen, Huo Yue, the hostage prince of Yue who had been detained in Qi for five years, pulled a boy from the river. An arrow had pierced the boy's back, and he was nearly frozen to death.
When the boy awoke, the first thing he said was, "I want to kill everyone in Yue."
Fifteen-year-old Huo Yue said calmly, "I'm Ning Wang of Yue. Why not kill me first?"
From then on, a boy who could barely protect himself struggled to protect another boy who was determined to kill him.
In the forty-second year of Yongzhen, Huo Yue led a great army to conquer Qi's three mountains and seven rivers. Then he placed a jade seal and a long sword in Song Jun's hands.
A realm as hostage, a lifetime for you.
