Synopsis:
At the end of the Jing Dynasty, the feudal lords rebelled.
Xie Li'an, the least favored of the false princesses, was lucky enough to escape during the palace coup.
But life on the streets was truly difficult. Proud of his noble birth, he couldn't bring himself to fight beggars for food, and within a few days he was dizzy with hunger.
Then, among the refugees, he ran into the heir of the Prince of Chu, Wei Lingchao, whom he'd once bullied mercilessly.
Fighting beggars for food would be humiliating, but taking it from his archenemy was only right and proper.
"Wei Lingchao, you have to give me half your bun." Xie Li'an reached out and tore a large piece from Wei Lingchao's hand.
"Hey, move over. There's no room." On the crude straw bed, half of Wei Lingchao's body was pushed off the edge, dangling in midair.
Later, to survive in a chaotic world, Xie Li'an reluctantly decided to team up with Wei Lingchao.
But he discovered that Wei Lingchao was a shameless schemer who always pushed his luck. Once they'd saved up some money, he brazenly sent Xie Li'an to Chonglu Academy.
Xie Li'an had always hated reading and writing. The palace matrons had only ever taught him needlework, proper etiquette, and how to win his father's favor.
The mountain path climbed steeply. Carrying the unwilling Xie Li'an on his back, Wei Lingchao climbed thousands of steps. As the sunset glowed like fresh blood, Xie Li'an heard him say:
"I'm not demanding that you surpass the sages in learning or make a name for yourself in history."
"But you must understand how the world works, rather than live an ordinary life without knowing anything."
For the first half of his life, Xie Li'an had been confined to the inner palace, bound by the rules of etiquette. He was Anjia, the most proper and exemplary princess of the Great Jing Dynasty.
It wasn't until he met Wei Lingchao that he learned what it meant to live a truly free and unrestrained life.
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Many years later, while studying Wei Lingchao, the founding ruler of the Sheng Dynasty, archaeologists unexpectedly discovered a string of old notes in his tomb.
The ancient writing grew from childish scrawls into elegant, forceful calligraphy. But rather than record the rise of an emperor, the notes preserved a collection of trivial moments:
"The princess is hard to feed. One bun a day."
"The straw bed is more than four feet wide. He takes up three feet all by himself."
"He can't read a single character and is poorly educated. Getting him into school cannot wait."
"The phoenix comes, and will perch only on the parasol tree. I offer the whole realm as your bride price, so that I may marry the princess."
Overprotective, possessive fatherly lord x A slightly foolish, slightly pampered princess who grows into herself
Written on 2023.06.14. Please do not copy.
Theme: Live freely and without restraint
